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Patience and Perfection

Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.  James 1:3

 

Patience isn't easy for most of us. If a plane is delayed a few minutes or something doesn't happen exactly when or how we expected it to, we get impatient and frustrated. I have heard of people who quit going to a particular church because the preacher didn't stop exactly on time! James said, "Be patient, the brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near."

Patience is not simply teeth-clenched endurance. It is an attitude of expectation. The farmer patiently watches his barren ground because he knows there will be results. He has patience as he labors because there will be products of his labor.

So it is in the spiritual realm. God knows the final product of what is happening to us, so He would have us link patience to our faith. Ask God for the gift of patience--and then use it.

From, HOPE for Each Day: Morning & Evening Devotions, by Billy Graham.