patience – Be Still…

Psalm 40:1 – Are You Patient?

“I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry.” (Psalm 40:1)

If you struggle with patience like me, this is a great verse of promise to call on while waiting on God’s timing. The psalmist trusted God, and we, too, can muster up the same belief in our Creator. God always responds, but perhaps his response is different from what we expected or hoped.

Context (Psalm 40): What a beautiful psalm of expectant praise in the midst of trials! The psalmist shares his experiences of patience and how blessings surround him alongside the trials. The confident hope is palpable that God will care and come to the rescue. In the waiting, the psalmist worships and remembers God’s provisions. Continue reading “Psalm 40:1 – Are You Patient?”

Job 21:1-34 – A Different Viewpoint

Read Job 21:1-34

Job’s friends talk of the curse of wickedness as a wakeup call to get Job to repent. Job sees it differently. Job sees the wicked living what appear to be abundant lives. His friends want to put Job in the camp of the wicked, assuming that is why he is being punished. Those arguments only lead Job into more confusion.

I agree with Job. When we look around at the godless, wicked people of our day, we don’t see doom and gloom. What do we see? We see successful people, people living without a care in the world. Like Job observes, they think their good fortune is because of their own doing. The wicked don’t know or even acknowledge God. Yet their lives look idyllic. Continue reading “Job 21:1-34 – A Different Viewpoint”

Job 19:1-29 – Patience

Read Job 19:1-29

Job has such patience. He is putting up with his very annoying friends, and he is waiting on a very silent God. I’m not sure I could have endured all of this. It’s Job’s turn to speak again. He doesn’t walk away from the attacks but tries to counter once again.

Job feels abandoned. In this speech he calls out relatives, his wife, his friends, his close friends, servants, and young children. He is sitting among three of those “friends,” and from what we’ve seen so far, they have indeed turned against him. Interesting that the three we’ve seen attacking Job are not considered his “close” friends. The sacrifice of time they have made to spend time with Joel is commendable at least. It’s hard to believe Job’s closest friends have long since forgotten him. That is, according to Job’s account of their whereabouts. Continue reading “Job 19:1-29 – Patience”

Job 10:1-22 – Why, God?

Read Job 10:1-22

Job’s plea to God continues to seek answers as well as deliverance. So far, God has been silent. In desperation, Job finds himself stuck in darkness. yet he never turns away from God.

Job asks some very direct questions. For instance, Job asks God, “What do you gain by oppressing me?” Despite his lament, Job has the capacity to think the purpose of his pain must benefit someone, maybe even God himself. That’s an interesting query, don’t you think? Continue reading “Job 10:1-22 – Why, God?”

2 Peter 3:8-13 – God’s Timing

Read 2 Peter 3:8-13

Have you ever heard someone say, “God’s timing is perfect”? I did, just today. It’s a phrase we like to use when God seems slow in answering our prayers. Peter calls out that big old elephant in the room for us. He starts out by explaining that God’s clock works differently than ours. “A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.”

Is that a helpful reminder for you? Are you waiting on God for something big in your life to happen? It seems like we are always waiting for something, whether it’s a job promotion, finding the right house to move into, getting pregnant, getting married, being able to retire and start living life the way you want. What is it for you? When we welcome God and expect him to move in these life events, we can trust he is working out the “best” solution for us. Could that be why one of the gifts of the spirit is “patience”? We must continue to wait.