Patience

I saw this quote the other day, “Some lessons of patience take a long time to learn.” I started thinking about that and wondering why we do that to ourselves. Why do we have to learn the same lesson over and over again?  God is always faithful. It may not be in our timing but He always does what He says.

There are many scriptures in the bible on patience. Two that come to mind are:

Psalm 27:14 “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart; wait, I say, on the Lord.”

Psalm 37:7 “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him; fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth t wicked devices to pass.”

Sometimes we decide to go our own way and not wait on the Lord. When we do this we miss out on blessings that God has in store for us. We see that principle also in the bible. Look at 1 Samuel 13:8-14.

^“8 And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. ⁹ And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering.¹⁰ And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him. ¹¹ And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash;¹² Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the Lord: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering.¹³ And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever.¹⁴ But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee.”

Saul didn’t wait on the Lord. Samuel told him to wait until he came, but Saul became impatient. The end result was that he lost the kingdom. If only Saul would have waited on the Lord he wouldn’t have missed the blessing. Samuel called him “foolish.” How often do we act foolish and do the same thing?