"The end of a matter is better than its beginning and patience is better than pride."

-Ecclesiastes 7:8

 

As we journeyed on our "Don't Cease" moment on last week, we highlighted Ecclesiastes 7:8, which reminds us that the ending of something is better than its beginning and that patience is better than pride. In reflecting on this, it reminded me of our Faith and Patience (Part 1) blog post. And so here we are ready to navigate Part 2.

 

It is sometimes hard to believe that the ending of something is better than its beginning because the ending of a thing can at times make us feel like we have lost something. And because there is often a pause, halt, or waiting period before the next thing comes along, that waiting period can make us feel like what we went through has deprived, weakened, stripped, or robbed us of something that in actuality, it hasn't. One of the reasons that it is often hard to realize that we have not lost anything, is because during our waiting period, hurt, pain, irritability, and our intolerance begins to lead and control our thoughts, deeds, and actions. It is often during our waiting period that all patience is lost. And when we lose our patience, it far too often causes us to choose not to wait on God and instead move forward, taking matters into our own 'IMPERFECT' hands. It is also within these moments, that we begin to lose our faith.

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Waiting in line is one of those things that can cause all of us to become impatient at some point. We have all had a 'waiting in line experience' that perhaps introduced us to how impatient and aggravated we can become. As you are waiting in line, it is quite often at the very moment that you become impatient that the person in front of you begins to have more issues than you would like for them to have. Out of frustration, you give up and switch lines thinking that you will escape having to wait. However, you then find yourself at a register that decided to malfunction as soon as it was time for you to get waited on. Not only did you lose your place in the line that you previously stood in (in which you would have been "NEXT") but now you are in a place of malfunction and have a decision to make. Are you going to wait for the register to reboot or be fixed? Or are you going to take your chances and switch lines again? Everyone who was in the initial line that you were in have been waited on and here you are still doing what you did not want to do...YOU ARE WAITING EVEN LONGER because YOU TRIED TO AVOID THE INITIAL WAIT! IF ONLY YOU HAD WAITED!

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To wait is defined as:

• the time it takes for something to happen

• to stay where you are or delay doing something until somebody/something comes or something happens

• to remain inactive or in a state of repose

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Let's go back to grab the definition of patience used in Part 1:

 

Patience is defined as:

• the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.

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Why so much talk about waiting and patience if we are focusing on faith? Without patience, you won't only find it harder to wait, but you will become more discouraged while doing so, which in turn can aggravate your faith. When we choose to have faith in something, we must not allow the gap between where we are and the manifestation of what we are having faith for, to aggravate our faith, causing us to relinquish it.

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Let's define what a 'GAP' is. A gap is:

• an empty space or hole in the middle of something, or between two things

• a break in a barrier

• an assailable (unguarded, insecure, exposed) position.

 

Understand that anything that is assailable means that it is vulnerable to attack.

 

Let's put this all together:

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When we have faith in something. When we have complete trust and belief in God. When we have complete trust and confidence that this thing that we've been hoping for will come to pass, there will always be a 'GAP'.

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This 'GAP' is the space that exists between where we are and the occurrence of this thing that we are 'faithing' for. Understand that there are going to be things within this space between faith and manifestation, that leaves us open to attack because when we have faith in something, we often find ourselves in a vulnerable position. And while in this vulnerable position, as we are placing all of our hope in the manifestation of this thing that we are 'faithing' for, if we begin to focus on time, become discouraged by the wait, or become impatient, this 'GAP' can make us assailable, causing us to become insecure about if God, can God, and will God do it.

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Once we begin to question the if, can, and will He, concerning anything about God, we have already lost the battle at hand. Going into battle and not having faith in the one who is leading and fighting for you, can weaken the morale of any team, army, or organization. Lacking faith in who is leading you in battle puts you in constant conflict with the one who is leading because that lack of faith can also cause a lack of confidence in the capability, reliance, strength, and integrity of the one who is either leading or fighting for you.

 

The minute you start to question if, can, and will God do it, you become at odds with God. And before you know it, you start to work in opposition of everything that He is trying to do or commanding of you. Many of us might find ourselves thinking that God's way is not fair. We might think that His decision was not just. We begin to think that His way takes too long. Some of us even begin to think that God's way does not make any sense. We begin to think that God's way is not as effective as we would like it to be. We might find that God's way is not appeasing us. We begin to think that God does not know how we feel. And some of us even wholeheartedly go there whether we are honest enough to admit or not and begin to think that God does not know what He's doing.

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Whether it be our thoughts or actions, letting in one 'if' about God as it concerns anything puts us at risk of losing EVERYTHING! WE MUST HAVE THE PATIENCE TO WAIT!

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PLEASE WAIT-God's Hands not YOURS!

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"Then the word of the Lord came to him: 'This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.' ” – Genesis 15:4 (NIV)

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"Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; so she said to Abram, 'The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.' Abram agreed to what Sarai said." -Genesis 16:1-2 (NIV)

 

The scriptures highlighted above reminds us of a very familiar passage in the bible. In case you are not familiar with God's promise of Isaac to Abram, here is an extremely brief recap:

 

In Genesis 15:4, we read that God made a promise to Abram. One of the things that God had promised Abram is that He would make him a great nation and that all of the inhabitants of the earth would be blessed through him. God had promised to make Abram's descendants numerous amongst other things. Abram had no children and was troubled by this. He struggled to understand how this thing that God promised him would apply to his life, because he had no heirs. 

 

Abram thought that his chief assistant would inherit his estate because there was no one else to inherit it. God in both knowing and understanding Abram's sorrow, makes a covenant with Abram telling him that He was going to give him a son that would be of his own flesh and blood, who would become his heir. We later find as highlighted by the above scripture, Genesis16:1-2, that Abram's wife Sarai, in realizing that she still had no children, convinces Abram to build a family for them through her slave Hagar. Hagar agrees and conceives a son whom she births and names Ishmael as God had instructed her to name him. However, God does not consider Ishmael as Abram's son. God blessed Ishmael because he was Abram's seed and made a nation out of him, but as far as the promise and the covenant that God made to Abram, that promise would come forth through the son that came from God's hands, which was Isaac.

 

Isaac was the son that God would allow Sarah to conceive. God changed Abram's name to Abraham and changed Sarai's name to Sarah. Sarah bore Isaac and due to unfavorable dynamics, (at least that's what we'll call it,) Sarah tells Abraham that she wants Hagar and Ishmael to be sent away although it was all her "bright idea".

 

God instructs Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away as Sarah had told him. This initially troubled Abraham, but God gave him assurance by telling him that Ishmael would be blessed as well. Furthermore, if we continue to read Genesis 21 and 22, we discover that God considers Isaac to be Abraham's only son although Ishmael is also his seed. Ishmael came about because of Abraham and Sarah's doing while Isaac came about because of God's.

 

Far too often we allow what we don't see in the 'GAP' to cause us to take matters into our own hands much like Abraham and Sarah did. God did not need them to try to create the son that He had promised Abraham that He would give them. This not only went against what God had promised Abraham, but Hagar and Ishmael in essence paid a price for it as well. However, God showed mercy on Hagar and Ishamel because of His favoring of Abraham and because of His own plans and purposes.

 

We cannot interfere with the 'wait' because when we allow our inability to wait and exercise patience to unravel our faith, our actions don't just work in opposition to the will of God, but other people can be affected by our actions as well. Hagar did as she was instructed by her master and behold the drama that resulted as an aftermath of Abraham and Sarah not being patient and waiting on God. If you read the accounts in Genesis 16,17, and 21, you will see that the dynamics between Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, and Ishmael, had become reality tv at its finest.

 

We must stop allowing ourselves to think that delay means 'No'. In the modern world that we now line in, we have become so accustomed to "Poof, there it is!", that we deem anything that does not appear instant, to be impossible.

If we can't get it 'right now' we automatically think 'never' because WE ARE UNWILLING TO WAIT! Anything that doesn't present the benefit of quick, plays into our psyche, making us hear "NEVER!" instead of "Not right now."  It also makes us irritable and impatient. It ignites our "I WANT IT NOW" tantrum! 

 

This world has become so negatively influenced by the 'idea of instant' that people have developed some extremely dangerous and erratic behaviors. There are people who knowingly and purposely run red lights because they are impatient and don't want to wait. You see people speeding in and out of traffic without care or concern for their lives or anyone else's, just so they can get to where they are going because they don't want to wait. And while there are a whole lot of other emotions and issues that these people have which we won't go into discussing, lack of patience is one of them. Road rage has become a disease that needs to be addressed. You find people in drive-thrus becoming irate with the people in front of them because they don't want to wait. You have those that will blow their horns expecting everyone in line to get out of their way just so they can get through faster. The WORLD IS IN TROUBLE!

 

Impatience is contributing to the erratic behavior of people, and the erratic behavior of people is producing more impatience within them and their environments. And somebody whether it be themselves, those connected to them, or those who will come into contact with them, are being affected. You have extremely patient people waiting in line who can't wait to get out of line due to the fact that they are surrounded by somebody who has no patience and is causing a scene, posing a threat to everyone around them. We might have all had that moment in which we were in the presence of someone who was causing a scene which in turn caused us to go into a silent prayer saying, "Lord, help me hurry up and get out of here." You have calm, mild-mannered people who are acting out of character as a result of the impatient, 'walking dynamites' that can't wait.

 

While man making you wait can stem from all kind of intents, whether good or bad, God delaying things or making us wait for them is always for our good, to our benefit, and for a purpose. Just as we have to naturally mature before we are allowed to do certain things or partake in certain activities or events, there are certain things that God must bring into their mature stage and their full development before He gives them to us. Sometimes as we are in our waiting period, God is preparing us for what He is going to bless us with and at other times, He is preparing all the people and things that are connected to what He is going to bless us with. We cannot lose our faith. WE MUST HAVE THE PATIENCE TO WAIT!

 

Our inability to wait patiently does not only cause us to switch lines, but for some of us it may also cause us to switch mates, careers, churches, degree programs, schools, goals, aspirations, and life plans, all because we did not have the patience to wait. And because we often lose our patience, many of us also lose our faith and give up! And by the time you realize that you've made a mistake, it's too late. Either these people or organizations have moved on without you, you lost your place, position, and positioning which has already been filled by someone else, or what you once had is no longer available for you to get back or step back into. In other cases, maybe what you lost was your drive, will, motivation, or even your confidence to go back to the things that were once yours. WE MUST HAVE THE PATIENCE TO WAIT!

 

In Hebrews 6:12, it states, "We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised" (NIV). In part one, we mentioned that faith is not cookie-cutter. We mentioned that you cannot 'faith it' like someone else does because your call is not their call, your purpose is not their purpose, and plain and simple, you are not them. God's plans for you were crafted to perfection and so your faith must align with the plans that GOD HAS FOR YOU! You cannot try to craft your faith to be just like someone else's faith. However, you can look at someone else's story and allow how they exercised their faith to inspire you to exercise and maintain your own. In the above scripture Hebrews 6:12, when it tells us to 'imitate' those who through their faith and patience received the promise, it is not telling us to do everything exactly like they did as some of those who received the promise through their faith and patience were not perfect as none of us are. Some of them made mistakes as you can see in the story of Abraham and Sarah. This verse is not telling us to take every single step that they took. What it means by 'imitating' them is looking at how they exercised and used their faith and allow that to be an example that you can look to as you stand firm on whatever it is that God promised you. You can hold on to your faith as they did. You must remain patient, diligent, not abandon your faith. Many of these pillars of faith that we read about in the bible went through some rough patches and felt some of the same emotions of distress, fear, rejection, loneliness, lack, neglect, and inadequacies that we all might feel as we endure our circumstances and our waiting periods. BUT THEY DID NOT GIVE UP! THEY WAITED ON GOD TO DO WHAT HE PROMISED!

 

Do not lose your faith by focusing on what you see or don't see in the 'GAP'. If God said it, then it is A DEFINITE!

If God said that He is going to do it, then the length of the 'GAP' does not matter because you know that there is manifestation at the other end.

 

You want your promise to be 'INSTANT', but your faith is slow to activate. You want the manifestation of what you ask for to be 'INSTANT', but you are slow at taking the time to pray. You want God to fight your battle in an 'INSTANT', but it takes you forever to put on your Spiritual Armor.

 

You are losing your patience while you wait because you think that God is taking too long to bring what you are waiting for to pass, but God is looking at you thinking the same thing! God is looking at you knowing that YOU ARE TAKING TOO LONG to do what you need to do to nurture your faith and change your behaviors and actions so that you can develop the patience, discipline, and assurance needed as you wait for the promise to be fulfilled. The assurance is ALWAYS there because anything that God promises us comes with assurance. You just have to learn how to grasp it and allow it to become rooted in you. GOD'S WORDS DO NOT FAIL neither does HIS WORD!

 

We cannot control time. Sometimes our waiting period can be due to something that we are or are not doing. And at other times, the waiting period can be due to the fact that God has a 'set time' to give us what we are 'faithing' for.  

 

We are not perfect. Patience can at times seem impossible. Especially when we are faced with the pressures of man's timeframe, schedules, due dates, and deadlines. But we must realize that time and waiting is inevitable, but patience is always possible. HOWEVER, IT IS A CHOICE!

 

If it is our lack of doing what we need to do that is making the wait longer, then until we learn to discipline ourselves, reflect, and do some self-checks to see how we are prolonging the manifestation of what we are 'faithing' for, we will continue to experience long wait times and lengthy GAPS.

 

At times, although it might be our faith that is wavering, it is important that we reflect on other factors and analyze how they might also be contributing to our loss of faith. In this week's blog we are discussing patience, but there are many other factors that can impact or faith. There are factors such as temperance, unforgiveness, feelings of unworthiness, and so many other insecurities, behaviors. attitudes, feelings, emotions and actions that can impact our ability to both have and maintain our faith. There are so many other facets that our faith can be impacted by, but because we don't take the time to reflect, we miss our opportunity to discover the real and root causes that are impacting our wavering faith. 

 

Now if you pray, reflect, and find that you're doing all that you are supposed to do and the waiting period is not your hard-headedness but is instead part of God's 'appointed time' for you, then all you can do at this point is simply grab hold of some PATIENCE AND TRUST! But you can't do it alone. God most definitely must be part of the equation. God doesn't want you to give up and neither do I. Let's work this out together!

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THOUGHTS FOR REFLECTION AND AWARENESS

 

1. What are you 'faithing' for?

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2. How long have you been 'faithing' for it?

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3. What are you doing to nurture your faith?

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4. Have you ever interfered with something that God promised you and messed things up in the process of doing          so?

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5. Take an honest reflection. Have you ever found yourself questioning if God knows what He is doing as it concerns      a circumstance that you were or are still facing?

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6. Do you currently feel like you are in a GAP PERIOD? How discouraged are you becoming? What can help you to        stand firm during this GAP PERIOD? Are you willing to do it?

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7. How often do you pray about this thing that you want God to do? Have you actually prayed to God about it, or            have you decided to just have faith that it is going to happen without praying about it?

 

8. How often do you pray? How often are your prayers not about asking God for anything?

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9. How do you define patience?

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10. Are you slow to anger?  How do you control your actions and reactions?

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11. Do you feel deserving of what it is you have been asking God for?

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12. As it concerns everyday circumstances, how often do you become irritable when having to wait?

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13. Do waiting on some things aggravate you more than others?

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14. Do the following things irritate you or cause you to become impatient? To what degree and level of irritability do          these things impact your patience? How do you act out your irritability and impatience during these occurrences        and experiences? And how does it benefit and/or work against you?:

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• Waiting at a doctor's appointment?

• Waiting on the phone using automated systems?

• Waiting in the drive-thru?

• Waiting in line at the store?

• Waiting in line at the bank

• Waiting on a package to be delivered?

• Waiting on a check, payment, or money someone owes you to be paid to you?

• Waiting in line at the gas station?

• Waiting on a waiter to bring the check after you've finished eating?

• Waiting on a refill while dining out?

• Waiting for someone in your household to get dressed so you can go out?

• Waiting on someone to apologize?

• Waiting on someone to reply to a text?

• Waiting on a significant other to pick up the phone?

• Waiting on your turn at the hair salon or barber shop?

• Waiting on someone at work to respond to an email?

• Waiting for a friend or loved one to respond to an email?

• Waiting to hear back about a job or position that you interviewed for?

• Waiting on church to start?

• Waiting on any type of event to start?

• Waiting on a condiment to come out of the bottle?

• Waiting on your computer or laptop to turn on, update, or reboot?

• Waiting for your phone to update?

 

15. Do you trust God?

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16. Is the thing that you're 'faithing' for something that God promised you or something that you asked Him for?

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17. Why do you want what you are 'faithing' for? Does it fulfill a current need? Or does it satisfy a want?

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18. How will your receiving this thing that you've been 'faithing' for change your life both naturally and spiritually?