James 5:8
“You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”
We are living in such an “instant” age that the mere mention of patience flies in the face of our way of life. We have instant cash machines, instant check-out counters, instant income tax refunds, instant coffee … tea … pudding … mashed potatoes … (I was going to continue, but the mere mention of instant mashed potatoes made me sick to my stomach).
In the face of all the short-cuts to achieve our end result, we find that we have even less time for the important things in life than ever before. Not only that, the labor-saving devices we use find us so tired and exhausted at the end of the day that we walk and talk like robots. Our “time-saving” gadgets and gizmos have us running at a break-neck pace to get from appointment to appointment. What has happened?
The answer lies in the Word of God. In all of our efforts we have totally failed to develop the proper discipline of patience. We do not want to wait or slow down for anything. In the midst of our hectic, fast-paced schedules we are so busy making things happen that we leave no room for that all important “quiet time” of waiting to see what God is going to bring into being. Slow down and wait for God!
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions and your patience!!
– – – Pastor Cecil