Moment in the Word

(Hebrews 10:36) "For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise."
Today, I was again reminded of the need for more patience.
This planting season was a year of abundance ... in spite of minimal rain. Early on, I was incredibly frustrated to see my spring vegetables die no matter what I did to save them from the summer drought.
The ordeal reminded me of Jonah's reaction when the gourd vine died that he had used for shade, "And God said to Jonah, 'Art thou very much grieved for the gourd?' And he said, 'I am very much grieved, even to death.'" (Jonah 4:9, Brenton's 1851 Greek Septuagint) But despite the man's petty disappointment, there were much bigger matters to consider in God's larger scheme of things.
Impervious to the previous inconvenience of the hot weather, my autumn garden is currently bountiful!
Additionally, people are baling a second cutting of hay which caused a local farmer to comment, "My sorghum sudan did great and the wild perennial grasses in the pastures did well too!"
But in my hasty impatience, I never dreamed that a crop might be raised. Midsummer, I looked at my dwindling freezer and assumed I would need to harvest a fall deer in compensation for what I might fail to grow. But with a brimming apple harvest and late season vegetables, I now have absolutely NO ROOM for anything else! Thus, Bambi is spared once again!
Understandably, my simple country allegory is quaint, but God's Word says, "For who has despised the small days? Surely they shall rejoice." (Zechariah 4:10, Brenton's 1851 Greek Septuagint)
Truly, we learn to have faith from the small lessons of the "small days" (i.e., times of adversity and need), for the Scripture says, "We know (come to realize) that all things (beneficial and destructive) work together for good to them that love God, to them who are THE CALLED according to HIS PURPOSE (Roman's 8:28). The promised advantage for God's Elect is eternal in scope rather than being immediate, which requires more patience until God's ultimate plan ends.
For this reason, St. Peter diligently admonished, "Add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; (6) And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance PATIENCE; and to PATIENCE godliness; (7) And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity." (2 Peter 1:5-7) By the apostle's order, we understand that the quality of patience is directly linked to godliness as two inseparable parts of our total Christian character ... while, in the meantime, God Almighty has EVERYTHING under His complete control!
In conclusion, let us remember Jesus' words, "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? (26) Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? (28) And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. (29) Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. (30) If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you...? (33) But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:25-33)
 
 
Edwin Woolsey is a native of Mountain View. He is a retired public educator of 31 years, and a pastor for nearly that long. Woolsey is the author of The Chronicler series and a father of three.
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