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Patience ...

Tuesday, May 31, 2016. Sometimes patience is needed. For people who are goal oriented, patience is a particular challenge. You want to reach the goals, you want to see progress, you want to work towards the aims. But not everything can be reached immediately, and some things cannot be reached at all. Patience, and steady work is needed, but more than that …

Differences …

The world is full of different people, of different interests, of challenges and conflicts. It is full of pain as well - pain which is caused by people who fight, pain caused by crime, but also pain caused by natural causes, by illness and catastrophe. There is pain caused by very normal people as well, just because we are who we are and others are different.

Of course, all the struggle of this world is also part of the church. The community of believers is not different, we all bring into it what we have and find around us, we all are shaped by our social environment. But here, in the middle of the Christian church, we can get into interaction with the Lord, and we can learn from him and experience his viewpoint, shaped by eternity!

Also, the Lord is different. Jesus is different. God is different. They are called holy! Their difference is a healthy and good difference, it is bringing eternity to us, unconditional love, deep truth and a forgiveness which is based on the cross of Jesus. And we are called to a patience which has its roots deep in the holy spirit, deep in the word of God, deep in his history with mankind. Let us listen to the apostle James, who talks about it in his New Testament letter:

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The Example of the Prophets …

7 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. 12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation. (James 5, 7-12)

It is a very helpful admonition which we hear from James. We are called to overcome the differences - but not in a cheap way, but rooted in the healing power of the holy spirit and the word of God. We are called to take the prophets as examples. Their patience in suffering shows us a good path. Stay pure! Let yourself be cleaned by the Lord.

We all have our challenges, and we know that God wants to guide us through, and he wants to fill us by his wonderful love and mercy, for our days, for every hour and every minute. What a promise! (Roland Potthast) ... more texts