“In your patience possess ye your souls.” (Luke 21:19)
The word patience implies two things; one would be that you do not have something that you desire, yet expect to receive it at some time in the future. The other would be that there is something that you do have, yet do not want, that you are fully expecting to be removed from you.
In either case, patience in this regard is futile unless some form of assurance has been guaranteed to you.
We who are the righteousness of God in Christ call this faith, and we are the only ones on this planet that can live in this manner of patience. We wait to be in the presence of God Almighty Himself with patient anticipation, and if you have been born again you have been blessed with the assurance that your patience will be rewarded.
“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” (John 10:28)
But we wait patiently, though struggling at times immensely, for another promise, that the thing that hinders us the most in our service to the Living God, that causes us to lose at times our patience, to be removed.
“For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” (Romans 7:18)
Patient anticipation is the way of our daily walk with the Lord my friends, performing the necessary daily functions of this life, seeking and following His will for us, glorifying and praising His Holy name, while standing by His strength against the wiles of our adversary and that old man inside of us who continually seeks self-gratification.
The pinnacle of patience in my mind is the Lord Jesus Christ in this regard.
“The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” (Psalm 110:1)
But do not look upon our patience in all these truths as a continual calm assurance, for you know full well that it is not. The only word that comes to mind at the moment is “antsy,” it reflects not anxiousness or nervousness, but instead is akin to waiting for a present, wrapped in colorful paper with a bow and a card with your name on it that cannot be opened until a specific date arrives. We know it is ours, but we cannot receive it until the giver picks it up and hands it to us.
My friends, that for us is called death, but it holds no fear for us, only patient anticipation.
“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Phil. 1:21)
“My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:2)
Sooner than we think, but not soon enough.
There is a yearning within us that the unrepentant can never understand, there is absolutely no fear whatsoever in it, for in faith we have believed the promises. They have no such assurance, so it is our responsibility, our honor and pleasure to reveal to them how we can live in patient anticipation with much excitement towards that which they fear above all other things.
“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
Patience is not a virtue my friends, not in the way that those in and of this world speak of it, it is a gift, one that you have already received and opened. It comes with faith, with trust, with the assurance of the promises of the Word of God, and no one can take it from you.
And here is a truth for you, if you have true patient anticipation in this regard, then you are honestly one of the few that understands that word “impatient.”
Possess your soul.
