Of Impatience and Faith

“But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” (Ro 8:25 AV)

 Impatience is a good indicator of how deep our faith runs. The less patient we are for that which we know we will receive, the less faith we have that we will receive it.  Preceding this verse was an explanation from Paul that once we see that for which we hope, hope is no longer needed.  Our faith ends in sight.  We know there is a home in heaven awaiting our arrival. We know there is a place that is being prepared for us.  We know there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God.  We know we shall see Him face to face.  We know the future will always be brighter than the past.  We know all these things. Yet, it is how we hold them that matters.  Do we patiently wait for them to come to fruition?  Do we look forward to the coming blessings with measured anticipation?  Do we continue faithfully in what God has called us to do and be in the present as we await what we know is coming in the future?  In short, how we wait for that which we know is coming shows how deeply we believe they will come, and in God’s perfect timing.

My Mom did Santa Claus. Please, no judging.  This was quite an undertaking.  She raised eleven children which means hiding those gifts for several weeks until Christmas Eve was a challenge, to say the least.  Not only was the cache of gifts rather large, but she also had several private investigators under the age of 18 in a sworn pact to discover this treasure long before December 25^th.  We knew one of her hiding places was the attic.  Our attic was unique.  The old house’s attic and the addition’s attic ran perpendicular.  The old roof blocked access to the new addition. And vice versa.  So, she hid all the gifts in the old attic and placed a padlock on the stairs leading to it.  Do you think that stopped eleven little evil elves from gaining access? Not at all!  We felt like Hogan’s Heroes as we disassembled the roof from the new attic to the old attic.  BINGO!  Then she tried hiding the gifts in the camper.  Thanks to my brother Greg, that didn’t last long.  It wasn’t until she began to wrap them as soon as she came home from shopping and then store them in her bedroom closet that we finally gave up trying to be the next Inspector Cousteau.  The thing was if we found our gifts before Christmas day, the surprise was ruined.  We no longer waited for them because we knew what they would be.  Not knowing what they were forced us to patiently wait.  If we doubted our parent's generosity, we lost patience and looked for the loot.  If we thought there might be a chance we would never get what we asked for, we looked.  It was worry that drove the investigation.  Not faith.

As believers, we should be the most patient of all people.  We should not be irritated.  We should not explode because things do not go our way.  We should be filled with joy over that which the LORD will do.  We should look forward to tomorrow rather than regret it before it comes.  If we truly believe what we say we believe, then we, of all people, should be the most content.  What happens in the world is only temporary.  Seeing the direction of our world should encourage the saint that Jesus could come back at any moment.  We can look up rather than look out. We can listen for the trumpet rather than harken to the news.  We can know that all these things will pass.  There is coming a day when all unrighteousness will cease.  There is coming a kingdom whose maker and King is Jesus.  He will come back.  He will return.  And when He does, all this will cease.  Until then, have patience.  Wait for it!