For my sisters and me at Christmas, the only thing worse than having to go
to bed on Christmas Eve was waking up Christmas morning about four o’clock
and knowing we could NOT wake our parents that early. Dad and Mom made clear
any wake-up call before seven would not play out well, Christmas or not. We
were not to wake them up, and we were forbidden to open any gifts under the
tree. Mercifully, we could open our stockings. And we did. Every year. Long
before 7:00 a.m.
Patience is a hard lesson for all of us. We don’t learn it in the fun times
or easy times. It doesn’t come with instant gratification. Patience is
learned between taking an exam and getting the test results, in the waiting
rooms of doctors’ offices, or in the aftermath of a devastating natural
disaster. Lessons in patience we may have learned as children at Christmas
carry little resemblance to the lessons in patience we find ourselves
learning through adulthood. Yet we know “that the trying of your faith works
patience” (James 1:3)
Our godly predecessors patiently awaited the coming of the Messiah. “The
prophets…enquired and searched diligently…of the grace that should
come.” (I Peter 1:10). Not only that, they anticipated “what manner of time
the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified
beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow” (I
Peter 1:11).
We’re told that we need patience for a reason. “That, after you have done
the will of God, you might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and
He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” Hebrews 10:36-37
Whether it’s the arrival of Christmas teaching us patience or the results of
a medical biopsy, we can look with confidence to Him who is our patient God.
And just as those expectant prophets and godly believers of old waited
patiently for Christ’s first coming, so we, too, can patiently await His
coming again.
p.s. “Waiting is, by its nature, something only the humble can do with
grace. When we wait for something, we recognize that we are not in control.”
~ John Ortberg
“Perhaps one reason God delays His answer to our prayers is because He knows
we need to be with Him far more than we need the things we ask of Him.” ~
Ben Patterson
[Adapted from “Every Good and Perfect Gift: Devotional Thoughts on the Gift
of the Savior”]
~~
Dr Bob Griffin
[email protected] www.grif.net
“Jesus Knows Me, This I Love!”