The letter I want to focus on this week is the letter “P” and the word I want to focus on is…wait for it…patience. When we think of the word patience, for some, it is a difficult word. It is a word that means we have to wait on something. A lot of people do not like to wait. We live in a time when waiting is not appreciated. With internet, social media, streaming devices and other types of technology, waiting is something we don’t have to do. We can even order our food at home and when we arrive at the restaurant we can pick it up, no waiting. While waiting may not seem to be important, for the Christian, we must be able to be patient, and wait on God to work. Therefore, we need to put into practice our word for today, “patience”.

In Psalms 27:14, David is encouraging either himself, or those who are listening, to wait on God’s timing. There are times we pray and we want immediate answers. We want to know what God would have us do right after we pray. Career choices, financial questions, doubt and concern about health. There are other times when we pray and we ask God to reveal to us what His answer and His will are. In order to draw closer to God and to become stronger in our faith, I believe there are times we need to just wait and be patient. But how does being patient draw us closer to God? Well it is not as much the patience that can draw us closer as it is what we do while being patient that can draw us closer to God. I think there are three things we can do while waiting on God to give us guidance that can help us.

One thing we can do is pray. We should never stop praying about something that we feel is being laid upon our hearts. If we feel that God is wanting us to do something we should pray about it until the answer becomes clear. If we want to make sure our wants match up with God’s will we should pray about it until a sense of peace comes our way. If we truly feel it is something that can help us grow as Christians, we should definitely keep praying until God’s will is shown.

A second thing we can do is read the Bible. There is nothing that can help us while waiting like reading God’s word and His promises. Let me give you a promise today. Isaiah 40:31; “those who wait (and be patient) on the Lord shall renew their strength.” Waiting, being patient, placing God in our hearts, can strengthen us.

A third thing we can do is serve God by helping others. If we want to draw close to God while we are being patient we can serve others. Helping those who need help is way of taking our minds off our situations and being the hands and feet of Christ. It might even help our prayers become clearer.

Being patient is hard, but what we do while we are being patient can determine how much we grow in Christ. Until next week…

Peace and Blessings,

Johnny