#patience

Patience & Waiting

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By Gai Gai Anderson

Waiting on anything in our lives is not easy. Living in this “gotta have it now” world, we pay extra just to have our orders shipped overnight. Waiting on God is not something we can speed up if we really want what God wants in our lives.

Throughout the Bible, we see God’s people waiting on God for help, leadership, and deliverance (Moses in the desert, Noah before the flood, Nehemiah before approaching the king, the Israelites waiting for the Messiah to come, Cornelius to hear God’s truth through Peter, Saul after being blinded, and believers waiting for the Holy Spirit to come after Jesus’ ascension). In all these accounts, the people were waiting on God’s will to be revealed or accomplished.

Patience is an integral part of waiting on God. Patience is part of the fruit of the Spirit given when the Holy Spirit enters a life that has received Jesus as Savior and Lord (Galatians 5:22). Patience has a whole lot to do with waiting on God to intervene.  Like patience is a part of waiting, trust is a part of patience.

It is easier to be patient when you trust the person you are having to wait on. When it comes to trusting, God is faithful in keeping His promises. We can trust Him with everything.

Finding a pastor to lead our church is not an easy task. It requires the desire to first let go of ourselves and to seek and trust God completely. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.”

We want God’s man, not ours. This means we must wait on God’s timing. We need to make sure we are praying and seeking God during this interim period between senior pastors. “We must pray with a willingness to wait and wait with a willingness to pray. Waiting and praying go together.” (Quoted from Mom’s Devotional Bible, 1996).

Waiting, praying, and trusting go hand-in-hand. Let’s pray daily for the pastor search committee to find God’s man while trusting God to lead them; and pray for all of us to wait on God to do His work.

Be patient. God will come through.

Attention to Attire

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By Karen Polich

How do we “bear with each other”? (Colossians 3:13) Are we cloaked in our old ways are wearing our new wardrobe? Pastor Cook’s message, Attention to Attire, from the Fragile Growth series, looked at how we interact with those around us. (Listen to the podcast here.)

A church family provides connection, comfort and passion. It can also bring irritation, frustration and unmet expectations. How we choose to deal with the others in our life sets us apart. This push and pull with people happens not only in a church family, but in all areas of our existence.

We’ve been given the gift of a new wardrobe. Through Christ we are given what we need to handle the challenges that come while experiencing life with others.

Colossians 3:11-16 has five characteristics of our new wardrobe.

Compassion. We should feel compassion for others. Do we have a mercy zone?

Kindness. This is the “doing”. Demonstrating our compassion with action shows kindness. What creative ways can we truly meet a need for someone else?

Humility. Jesus made himself nothing for us. Humility isn’t the absence of strength. It’s using our strength to help others.

Gentleness. Are we able to set ourselves aside and help others, demonstrating a gentle spirit?

Patience. This is the virtue of dealing with a difficult person over an extended period of time without writing them off or losing our cool.

We’ve all got choices. We can put on the new and seek to forgive when wronged, show patience for the difficult person and be kind. It may cost us something in return. We may have to let go of anger or disappointment. We may have to let go of ourselves and simply seek Him.

John 13:34-35 says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Christ is all and is in all. When we dress in these five characteristics, bound in love, Christ is reflected.