The Discipline of Patience

 

“The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
“I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him.
Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.”
Gen.12:1-4

When the LORD  spoke to Abraham I wonder if Abraham realized how long he’d be waiting.
There are no objections, doubts, or questions from Abraham recorded in this passage.
God promised to make him a great nation-which meant that he and Sarah would be having children, and Abraham believed Him…ah, but patience. God never specified at this time when these things would happen; the wait would seem to stretch on endlessly. They seem to have persevered well for the first 12 years, but then Sarah buckled. Sometimes I wonder if Abraham’s patience would’ve held out if Sarah hadn’t doubted God’s promise and timing, instead of proposing with the not-so-bright idea of handing over Hagar to Abraham. This classic example of doubting God, giving into disobedience and impulsive hair-brained schemes is manifested today across the earth. To me it ranks as the worst sin against God right behind the Fall.  The outcome of this choice brought forth Ishmael. As Hagar was told by the Angel: “Ishmael and his descendants will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against his brothers forever.” 
Sarah’s patience ran out 12 years after God made His promise to Abraham; it would be another 13 years before they saw the fruition of the promise with the birth of Isaac.
Consider how long they waited. 25 long years.
Would I even have been able to wait as long as Sarah did before doubting God,
before becoming discouraged and improvising a plan of my own making to “help” God?
Honestly I doubt it; I have difficulty waiting on God for the answers.
Patience is one of the most difficult disciplines to embrace, especially in this “instant” everything world we live in,
and yet as believers it ranks among the most valuable and important.
We must learn to be still and wait for his sometimes still-small-voice before we launch out in perhaps a totally wrong direction with possibly devastating consequences.
Beloved, if you are faced with difficult decisions, resist impulsive knee-jerk choices;
be still, nix all distractions and listen.
He sees every situation and need, large and small, including all of yours.
Have faith, beloved, and trust that He is God.

 

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