Borrowed Truths

Initiative and Patience

intiative and patience
Picture of Borrowed Truths

Initiative and Patience

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

This is a large part of the life of those who have been crucified with Christ, waiting on the Lord, and it may be something that many of us do not spend near enough time in prayer about. Those who seek to serve Him for His glory tend to jump the gun too often, acting on or even moving in a direction that we have not waited patiently for clear and precise directions from Him, and to tell the truth, if we did not step out in faith at times, we would never learn from those mistakes, would we?

We adhere at times to the first part of Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” and acknowledge Him only after the plans have been made, the wheels have been set in motion, and then we pray, asking the Lord to bless our endeavors.

But there is, in a sense, a flip side to this coin, waiting in this life that we look through that glass darkly now can in fact hinder our faith, we may end up not doing or moving forward for fear of doing wrong.

I believe the Lord blesses initiative, but it must be sought for in that patience, acting impetuously, on impulse, is rarely the best idea. Patience must be learned, and taught from one who has experience in it, something you will not find in this world. Fast paced, get it now without any real consideration of the consequences is the path our adversary has laid out for those who will not follow the master of patience, our Father in heaven.

“Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.” (1st Tim. 1:16)

Get it now while you can, take no real thought to years, perhaps even decades of the bondage of payments, enjoy all of life that is possible, that is the way of the world.

 We who have been born-again are to be the epitome of patience.

“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1st Cor. 2:9)

“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18)

“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:” (Job 19:25)

“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” (Heb. 13:5)

“But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:” (Matt. 6:20)

But today, there is that urge, that burning desire to serve, and if we do not practice patience, if we do not continue studying and contemplating His Word, we may take those steps of faith that the Holy Spirit is not directing us towards. In other words, my friends, you may be doing no more than “make work,” busying yourself instead of following Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Where did Elijah hear the Lord? In the whirlwind or in that still small voice?

I believe all who have been saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ know, we can hear the Holy Spirit perfectly, He causes an urge within us that will not go away, and at those times I personally see no fault in those who put out, in their own way, a fleece as Gideon did, we are to test the Spirits, but we are also not to move too quickly without too firmly of conviction.

Steps of faith and patience go hand in hand, they are symbiotic, if you acknowledge the Lord in all you do, He will indeed direct your path, but patience must come first.

I also believe though that path involves risks, not from the Lord, for He knows your heart, the intentions of it when it is set to glorify Him, but from ourselves, for we do not fear personal failure, but failure in serving properly.

Not enough patience and we may step off the path, too much patience and we may not move forward on it when we are supposed to.

Initiative and drive, patiently waiting, that is the life of one who desires to serve for His glory.

Share this post

Search

Archives

Stop Fearing

We gravitate towards like-minded people, even the very young do this. In school, the attempt is to create

Read More »

Categories:

There are several items I would ask you to consider before you click on the Donate button.

1.    Please pray carefully about donating; “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” (2nd Cor. 9:7)

2.    Your first responsibility is to the Lord; “Honor the LORD with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase”: (Prov. 3:9)

3.    You must consider your family after your first responsibility; “But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” (1st Tim. 5:8)

4.    If you determine that you have been blessed by this ministry and decide to donate, please know this, your donations will be accepted with great thanks, and all the glory will go to God.