"Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains-" - James 5:7 (NIV).
Patience has been characterised as one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law" (Gal 5:22-23).
The noted Christian author, Charles Spurgeon, has given us a beautiful illustration of patience. "A butterfly will eventually emerge from its chrysalis, but not before a butterfly egg hatches into a caterpillar and the caterpillar forms itself into the chrysalis" he writes of nature. "A salmon will eventually lay its eggs in a stream, but not before it has attained maturity in the ocean and has swum up the stream. A farmer will eventually reap a harvest, but not before he plows the land, plants, and fertilizes the crop."
Spurgeon goes on to point that just as it is written "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens" (Ecclesiastes 3:1), being patient is the order of nature and God.
Well, if one wanted to get an idea of how patience can be a scarce commodity venture on a road here in Uganda and momentarily experience a jam. While you normally expect drivers to stay in their line, it is never that easy. Suddenly three or four lanes normally emerge caused by impatient drivers
If you are the type who is always hurried and eager to have your way, just remember this. Life requires a dose of patience, like a farmer who sows, cultivates and waits for a rich harvest, while enjoying every moment for each has a purpose and meaning. By practicing patience you are revealing God's work in you, as you demonstrate the fruit of the Holy Spirit!
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, today I pray for the fruit of patience especially in my personal relationships, this I pray in Jesus name.
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19/04/2024 - 20/04/2024 All day“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” ( Isaiah 43:19).
Just before fire was unleashed down on Sodom and Gommorah, Lot was told to pack up with his wife and two daughters and leave their homestead. Now, once out of danger, “But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt” ( Gen 19:26). Perhaps here we might pause and ask why she was bothered to look back.
Of course it could have been that old “curiosity killed a cat” mistake! Yet, it could also have been Lot’s wife was not sure where she was going and longed for her old life back. This is a common error. There was nothing stirring to look back. Just before Lot’s neighbors had attacked his house eager to rape his visitors. “They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them” ( vv 5). Was there anything worth looking back to!
The case of Lot’s wife could be anyone else’s experience. The Lord has plucked you out of some mess. You have been delivered to a new life. Yet, somehow you decide to look back, as though there was anything good and worth longing for. Sometimes it is a bitter past you have been delivered from. Other than rejoice in your new blessings you keep being drawn back!
A wise caution goes, “As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly” ( Proverbs 26:11). If the Lord has just led you out of a certain mess why look back like it was much better! Instead look ahead, for “he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past” ( vv 17- 18).
Prayer today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, I thank you for delivering me from the darkness of the past and I look forward to a bright new future in you, this I pray in Jesus’ name!
