Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: PATIENT (11/25/21)
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TITLE: Long-suffering In An Impatient Society | Previous Challenge Entry
By Doug Laird
11/29/21 -
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Slowing down approaching a yellow caution light in anticipation for a red light will certainly provoke a lot of horn honking and hand gesturing from motorists in one’s rear-view mirror.
In an ever-increasing hostile society, pleasure rides have become a thing of the past. Posted traffic and parking regulations have become no more than suggestions in the minds of many motorists, or intended only for everyone else.
Having retired after 30 years in law enforcement in both a local community and at a state airport, I can confirm that the manner in which people operate their vehicles and conduct themselves waiting in lines is greatly influenced by their lack of patience with anyone or anything that gets in the way of their individual agenda or expectations at the moment.
Patience is the ability to deal with adversity, suffering, delays, and or the lack of compliance, performance, or expected consideration from other people or things.
Even the most patient among us reach a point when we have had enough and become a ticking bomb ready to explode. All too often, the one(s) we finally unload on only played a small part, if any, in the series of events that wore our patience down.
The truth is that the horn honking, hand gesturing, foul language, facial expressions, do little if anything to improve the situation. In some cases, it makes it worse.
Adding more salt to the wound is the convicting feeling that one who walks with the Lord will experience when he or she engages in speech and actions inconsistent with who and what he or she should be, as an advancing disciple.
The most common response in an attempt to self justify our negative speech or actions is to argue that it is humanly impossible to do what Biblical Discipleship requires of us. How often have we challenged those who criticize us to walk a mile in our shoes, implying that they too would not have been any more successful.
This strategy may work with people, but not with God.
God provides us with all we need (Phil. 4: 19) and the ability (John 15: 5) to do anything that Biblical Discipleship requires of us. However, the type of patience that one will need to meet the requirements of Biblical Discipleship is not to be found within the limitations of our humanity.
Such patience is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5: 22). The things that Biblical Discipleship requires of us to do that are humanly impossible (Matt. 19: 26), becomes possible (Phil. 4: 13) with the enabling power (John 15: 5) that He provides.
God, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, has walked in our shoes, being tempted in every way that we are (Heb. 4: 15). In His humanity, He could have, but chose not to sin, in order to fulfil the plan that God the Father had in mind. With the means and the power that He provides, we can choose to do the same.
The problem that we have is that we have a natural tendency to handle adversity and trying circumstances with the limited power of our humanity instead of the unlimited power of God. This is a recipe for disaster.
The devil and his Eph. 6: 12 forces of evil know that human power and ability can only take us so far.
Being tired, worn out, mentally stressed, frustrated, physically ill, ignored, and unjustly treated, are among an endless list of contributing factors that Satan will use to wear us down.
For a variety of reasons, some of us has have a longer fuse than others. But even among those who have the longer fuse, human patience has its limitations.
In closing, consider that having access to the Gal. 5: 22 type of patience can be like a carpenter having the best power tool in his tool box to complete the job. But it will do him no good if he leaves it in the box, or fails to connect it with the right power source.
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