Battling Impatience

Literally every battle that we face in our Christian walk is a battle against unbelief.  Every battle against unbelief is an attack on our faith in God, which is an attack on His character.  The oldest temptation in the world is the temptation to believe this lie: “God is not good.  God is keeping something from you that is good.  God doesn’t want you to have the best.   God is not God.”  When Adam and Even sinned in the garden, they believed this lie.  They believed that God was somehow keeping them from something good.

And so it is today.  We know that.  When we struggle with impatience we are struggling with believing God is good, that He’s God, and that He is in control of every situation and will use it for our good and His glory.  This is true whether we’re stuck behind a slow car or dealing with dashed dreams.  When we can finally grasp this, and daily learn to walk in it, we will find ourselves patient people.

I was feeling very content.  Surprisingly content.  For the first few months of living with Mom and Dad I had really been struggling (even though they are wonderful), but I’d begun to sense God bringing me contentment and joy, and I was praising Him for that.  Then, three temptations came.  Now, please, hear me in this: None of these things were bad.  We were actually blessed that they arose, because they encouraged us in our calling and our future.  But, they still posed a temptation for us. First, Jeff was asked by a pastor friend to consider becoming their new associate pastor in a nearby town.  What an honor!  Second, Jeff was asked by another person to consider becoming their new associate pastor in the town we just moved from, where we still own a house, still have friends, etc.  Double honor!  Third, my dream house, the one I’ve been secretly eyeing for four months, is being offered this weekend only for $40,000 under its market value.  This was, mind you, the very day after Jeff had made the off-handed comment about that very home: “That’s a great deal; I say if it drops some ridiculous amount, say, $40,000 then we buy it!”  My eyeballs about fell out of my head when I saw the advertisement the next day.  All three of these things screamed at us–“Come!  This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! If you don’t do this now you’ll never have these opportunities again!  Act now!”  Our dreams–becoming a pastor (paid!) and having the home of our dreams, seemed right within our grasp.

Jesus battled three temptations as well, as He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, fasting for forty days (Matt 4).  His three came directly from Satan, tempting Him to use His divine power to usurp God the Father and do His own thing, taking control of the situation rather than yielding humbly to the Sovereign will of God and the purpose for which He was sent.   He refused to do this. Instead, He used the Word of God to rebuke Satan.  He stayed the course.  At any time, Jesus could have called down fire from heaven to consume his enemies, He could have changed the course of events so that He wouldn’t have to go to the cross, He could have fled from the painful fate that awaited Him at Calvary.  But He stayed the course.  Essentially, He was patient.  And how could He be?  Because His gaze was fixed on something far greater than the “momentary trials” He endured on earth, even though they were far more ghastly than anything we will ever experience.  Because He had His eye on His purpose, He stayed the course.

While I was contemplating these three things our life, I read these word’s of Jesus during my quiet time, “Therefore My Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This command I have received from My Father”  (John 10:17-18; emphasis mine).  Jesus, by his own free will stayed the course, obeying the will of the Father and laying down His life. I am not Jesus, I recognize that.  But in the same way, we have the power, by our God-given free will, to determine whether we will lay down our life and stay the course God has for us.  Yes, probably we will end up someday with a home and Jeff will (God willing!) probably end up teaching God’s Word as a pastor somewhere.  But, to get to that end before God’s appointed time is to succumb to impatience and short-circuit the work that God is doing in us.  So, we decided . . . to wait.

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:2-4