Patience: Part 2 — A ‘Time With God’ Audio Devotion

This week we join John North to focus on the virtue of patience. It’s arguably one of the harder virtues to develop in our lives, but once mastered, benefits our relationship with The Lord and others greatly.

Finishing is better than starting.
    Patience is better than pride.

Ecclesiastes 7:8 (NLT)

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Transcript

Good day.

As we start this day, we want to start it by reading a bit of the Bible. Do you know that God wants to meet with you through the Bible?

That’s why the Bible is often referred to as the Word of God. It often refers to itself that way as well. This is God’s word, God’s message, God’s love letter to us, God’s instructions for life, but not just in that kind of abstract sense like you would read an instruction manual. No, this is a relational letter from God.

God speaking to you about your life, helping you see life in a way that is going to put meaning into the things you experience, the hard things and the great things, and will show you how God wants to use your life in a way that gives you such significance and purpose in this world. Don’t you want that for your life? Well then, spend time in God’s word and learn to see things the way that he sees them, to think about things the way that he thinks about them.

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Allowing God to change the way you approach life is one of the greatest practices you could ever embark on.

Well, we’re talking about patience this week, and certainly one of the great stories of patience is the story of Jacob and his wife Rachel. When Jacob first met Rachel, it says that when Laban – that’s Rachel’s dad – He heard the news of Jacob, his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Then he related to Laban all these things, and Laban said to him, Surely you are my bone and my flesh. He stayed with him a month. Then Laban said to Jacob, Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?

Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah. The name of the younger was Rachel. And Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful of form and face. And Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, I will serve you 7 years for your younger daughter Rachel.

Kind of reflects the culture that they lived in, doesn’t it, that he would strike this deal with her dad.

And Laban said, It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Go ahead, stay with me. So Jacob served 7 years for Rachel. And they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.

Well, he met the girl of his dreams while he was young, but he had to work 7 years, and Laban then tricked him, and he had to work yet another 7 years in order to finally make her his bride.

This so often happens in the Bible. You remember Joseph as a young man was given a vision from God at the age of 17, but he ended up 13 years in slavery and prison before finally receiving his reward for his patience and trust in God.

Elizabeth Elliot has said:

When our plans are interrupted, God’s are not. His plans are proceeding exactly as scheduled, moving us always, including those minutes or hours or years which seem most useless or wasted or unendurable – moving us always toward the goal of true maturity.

I’m John North.

To go deeper in your faith, visit AFCI.com.au.

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