Patience and Persistence

We do not want you to become lazy, but to be like those who believe and are patient, and so receive what God has promised. Heb.6:12 (GNT)

But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. James 1:4 (KJV)

Today, we live in a very materialistic world, people are very quick to measure your progress by what you possess, and this puts a lot of pressure and strain on people, including believers. 

It is not uncommon to find that many of the things we do are simply as a result of trying to measure up or trying to send a signal that we really can measure up. Worse still, is that there are many people who are getting away with doing little or nothing, and this culture is beginning to influence believers also. We desire to “make it” with almost next to nothing investment in knowledge and processes, but God doesn’t work like that. God is systematic and He sets processes in motion. That doesn’t mean that He cannot step out of His processes or system to cause a miracle, this is at His prerogative of mercy.

Kenneth E. Hagin recounts that God told him "If you will learn to follow the inward witness, I will make you rich”. You see it takes time and effort to learn these things, but if you will be patient and committed to the process, you will see the results you desire in your life. God is not in a hurry to make you successful, and He is not under pressure either; He has already put everything in place for you to be successful, if only you will patiently follow the way He has laid out for you. 

If you want to excel God’s way, you can never miss the vital lessons on patience and persistence. It is in these vital lessons that your character is formed, and you will learn not to boast in your ability, but in the grace of God. Some people think that being patient is weakness and resigning to fate, no, that is not biblical patience. Patience is a strong virtue that keeps you steady through the process of your formation, and it is a strong requirement alongside faith in obtaining the promise, or the future that God has set before you.

Over and over in scriptures, we see God taking His men through these vital lessons of patience and persistence. How would Moses have learned to trust God if he brought judgement on Egypt by his own strength, and missed the lesson of patience as a fugitive, or how would David have learned this valuable lesson, if he was crowned king on the same day he was anointed by the prophet Samuel. There are several stories of men who had the promise of God, but only obtained it as a result of their continued patience and persistence in trusting God, and working the process.

Failure will mean nothing to you when you understand the value of patience and persistence, because you will outlive your experience of failure. Failing at one or two attempts at anything should not define you as a failure. Many times, even when God has promised you something, you still have valuable lessons to learn before you can take a hold of that promise, and if instead of learning from your experience of failure you take it as final verdict, then you completely rule yourself out of what God has in stock for you.

Today, I encourage you to stand firm and hold steady in your faith. Pick up yourself and look beyond your experiences of failure to the promise of God to you. Be resolute in obtaining the promise in patience, and by persistence. Let patience have her perfect work in you that you may be perfect and entire wanting nothing.

Shalom!