Day 26 | 40-Day Lenten Fast & Devotional

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. -Romans 12:12-15

Good morning, good morning. God bless you all. Grace and peace be unto all of you, my father's children.  It is in fact day 26 of our 40 day Lenten devotional.  This week we've been dealing with patients. Y'all tell me, has patients been dealing with you?  I know it's been dealing with me.  This is a challenging concept for  us within the place of people who are definitely action oriented, but, thought processes that action needs to be accompanied by the wisdom of patience.  So I want to take a look at  the book of Romans, the 12th chapter, and look at two to three verses starting at verse number 12.

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” Number 14, “bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse. 15, “rejoice with those who rejoice. Mourn with those who mourn.” 16, “live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low positions. Do not be conceited.” I pause there. Paul in speaking to the saints in the Roman era and time gave out this piece as related to love and action. That what it looks like to walk in the area of love is to hold on to these attributes, one of them being patient. But what does he say?  He says, I need you to be patient and affliction. I was like, hold up, hold up Paul. I looked at another translation. I want you to be patient in affliction patient in tragedy patient in difficulty. These are the attributes used to describe when patient is patience is to be employed in affliction you mean when stuff's not going right you want me to be patient and I ask the question. We'll got patient with who is it patient with the people who are causing said affliction is it patience with you while you work through it or is it patience with myself as I'm? And God explained it can be all three at the same time. Have you ever been there? That you had to employ a level of patience because maybe the person or persons or entity that had transgressed against you, you wanted to move and act immediately. You had something to say, you wanted to counter, you wanted reciprocity and so  in turn God says what I need you to do is showing love and action is when you are patient in affliction.  But then I myself, not only is it times when I have to be patient with others who transgress against me, but also need to be patient with myself. You ever been there as well? 

Ultimately, you found yourself in a position where you weren't even trusting your own instincts.  You didn't know left from right, up from down. And you say, God, I need to do something within me. And God says, as I begin to develop you, I need you to be patient with my processes I'm dealing with you. And in turn, you need to be patient with yourself. And finally, and this most important piece is patient with God, not because God deserves or needs your patience. All of those are true as well. God doesn't really need it. It's more so for your own sanity, your own peace of mind. Only as God's ways are not our ways, his thoughts are not our thoughts, his actions not our actions. And so there are places where we literally can't trace God's hand. You ever been there? I have. God, I'm trying to stay steadfast, but I don't know how.  God, I'm trying to stay the course, but I'm not sure if I have what it takes. God, I want to be faithful in this season, but faithfulness is challenging  and my patience is embedded in  my feeble lack of knowledge of you. Because I don't know what you're doing, but I always believe that all things are working for my good. So in turn, my response is to operate in patience. 

So today I want you to take a look at that from all three perspectives. What areas is God calling you to be more patient in? I pray that this has been a blessing to you.

Listen, tonight, join me. We'll be at our Lent service for the Hope Church in Bound Brook at 7 o'clock p.m. I'm so excited to share with them, and also to be there so that we can experience the presence of the Lord at the Hope Church in Bound Brook, New Jersey at 7 o'clock p.m. tonight.  Definitely want to see you in the building. Be blessed on today. Have an incredible, incredible Thursday. And again, let's walk in patience.