Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door.
I was far away from here, felt like a million miles
Under unfamiliar skies, in more than one way far from dreams I’d dreamed
I’d seen the blinding light, there was hope but was there time
Slow trigger starting line, and each day of waiting seemed eternityYou never left my side
You never left my mind …Keep waiting, I’ll be right on time. — “Keeping Waiting,” Stavesacre (band)
Perhaps in no other time in the recent history of our church has our need for patience in the face of trying times been so clear. I don’t write in the first person too much, but I’m going to “break character” this week, given what I think is a very important topic, particularly at this time in the life of our church.
So here’s a story for you. Admittedly, in a hasty preference to the New Testament and selected portions of the Old, I have not spent much time studying the book of Job and knew little of the narrative or basic themes. Little did I know that this week when I sat down to write about “patience” for this devotional, God wasn’t interested in me spitting out an easy 500-word devotional lickity-split. He wasn’t interested in brevity or what other plans I had for that day. Those things could wait.
“It’s peculiar,” I thought to myself about a week ago: “Why did my wife begin reading Job out of the blue. He was kind of a gloomy guy, right? Aren’t there happier books in the Bible she can read before bedtime? If she has to go ‘Old Testament’ on me, why not Psalm? Now, that’s good pre-sleep reading.”
But it turns out God had something else planned. When I sat down to think about what to write this week, I was a blank slate and didn’t know what specifically I would write about regarding patience. “I wonder if this Job guy ever had a redemptive moment,” I thought to myself about Job. “Or was it all just doom and gloom?” Before my studies, I honestly didn’t know about the expression: “The patience of Job.” Turns out, Job is one of, if not the shining pictures of patience in the entire Bible!
Turns out, God is still in the business of revealing himself to us today, right where we are, if we would only open his word and be receptive. His revelations aren’t just the stuff of the Old Testament or New thing. The annotated version of Job is this: God allows Satan to test Job by first removing all that he owns and loves. His children are killed when their house falls on them during a storm. His livestock are killed. Later, he’s inflicted with boils. After calamities that would lead most of us to throw up our hands, shake our fist at the sky and say, I “curse God, and die,” as his wife suggests he do, Job simply refuses. After his children are killed, Job says, “‘Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Suppose your son or daughter were killed tomorrow, could you then say, “blessed be the name of the Lord?” We want to believe our faith is that strong, but is it really? The word “patient” in the Greek means, in part, “long suffering” and “slow to anger.” Indeed, God displays this of himself time and time again in the Bible. Despite their constant missteps, he was infinitely patient with the Israelites. Jesus was infinitely patient with his disciples, who at times, were exceeding slow to learn. And he, likewise, is infinitely patient with us. So then, we should learn from his example and from examples like Job and display that patience to the world around us. Ultimately, God is teaching us through Job that sometimes in this imperfect earth and in these imperfect vessels, we can be made more perfect by displaying His patience.
I think our church has been bruised a bit by recent events; feelings and relationships perhaps need to be mended. Hearts need to be healed. And it’s precisely in this time that we can display the stuff we are made of, the stuff Christ is made of, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control. It’s at this time that we need to look back at Job’s example and God’s ultimate example and be exceedingly patient, kind and gentle to those around us. Look at this as an opportunity. A chance to be infinitely patient in trying times, to be still and know that, even though we may not think it sometimes, God is still in control and will bring us through to the other side, perhaps kicking and screaming, but nonetheless, stronger in Him and more centered on his will.
As I write this, Chris Tomlin’s “Your Grace Is Enough” is playing in my headphones. Just be reminded this week that He really is all we need in good times and bad.
“Great is your faithfulness, oh God. You wrestle with the sinner’s heart. You lead us by still waters into mercy, and nothing can keep us apart so remember your people. Remember your children. Remember your promise, oh God.
“Your grace is enough. Your grace is enough. You grace is enough for me …”
prayer
Today, simply pray in your own words for fellow brothers and sisters at The Mount. Pray for focus to be directly centered on God’s will. Pray for our leadership and pray that in the coming months and years, God would do something at The Mount that we can’t explain. Pray that lives would be changes and that our community would be changed because of our unbending commitment to be more like Christ.