“For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” Hebrews 10:36

Waiting is defined as- the action of staying where one is or delaying action until a particular time or until something else happens. I recall the analogy of two individuals waiting for the bus to arrive one morning. On arrival to the bus stop, one rider checked his schedule, sat on the bench, and proceeded to read a book. The second rider checked his watch and became quite annoyed. He began to pace up and down the sidewalk. He ranted on about how unreliable the bus service was and that he would certainly be late for work if the bus did not come soon. After approximately ten minutes of this behavior the rider was sweating and extremely irritated. The first rider remained calm and looked down the street and saw the bus approaching, he stood and as the door of the bus opened, he kindly greeted the driver and stated, “I see that you’re right on time!”

We all must wait on numerous things in our lives. The moral of the analogy is how we wait. We can wait patiently or impatiently. Our choices make an immense difference in our mental and physical well-being. Patience means that we can accept or tolerate the delay. Our society consistently makes waiting in patience a difficult task; we desire to have everything right at this very moment.

The quote, “Patience is a virtue,” speaks to our having self-control…and above all the word of God state “For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” Hebrews 10:36.

The early Jewish Christians were admonished to continue in their allegiance to Christ. They had already come through suffering and much hardship to that present time. Therefore, they could hold on to their faith and wait for the promise of the Lord’s return. F.B. Meyers wrote, “Don’t miss the harvest of your tears.”  In other words, he was saying do not throw away your trust when your reward is so near, all the things that we have endured should only strengthen us.

Beyond the desire of the things that we seek to sustain our physical existence; every born-again believer has the hope and promise that our Lord is soon to return for all His beloved children. We do not have to rant or frantically pace up and down; we have the assurance by faith that our Redeemer lives and is faithful to His promises. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:3.

So, we must pray for patience to endure this Christian race empowered with strength and grace from the Holy Ghost, encouraged by the lives of those who have left footprints on the sands of time… Hebrews 12:1 state “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,”.

May God grant us grace and patience to wait on His timing in all things. “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31.

Blessings and peace to all.