“In your patience possess ye your souls.” (Luke 21:19)
Patience means not being in a hurry, not in a rush, it is the ability to refrain oneself from rash, hasty decisions. Patience though has an inverse, and it can be found in the lust of the flesh and of the eyes, patience in that area can be very detrimental, for we usually do not make rash, quick decisions when it comes to falling into temptation, we ponder these wants patiently until they become a supposed need.
Our ability to be patient is usually relative to the items that we place in front of us, if it is waiting for an answer from the Lord for something that we have prayed about, something that we have requested, and we understand that in His time and according to His will that answer will arrive, we can be patient, and possess our souls. If it is of self, for the reason of self-gratification, it can consume us, and our patience will wear thin if we do not see either immediate results or at least obtain that want in the time we have envisioned.
I am old enough to remember the days before computers and internet access, when information had to be sought out in different forms, either from books or magazines, or from those with experience in whatever I was attempting to do. Today, at least in those times when my patience wears then, so to speak, I find myself at times frustrated because I had to wait an additional two seconds for a website to appear.
Two seconds mind you.
Information is being hindered, if not completely removed from nearly every media source today, modified to an extent that truth is barely recognizable. What this is causing is a lack of patience, along with much frustration among those who have been born-again, and I believe it is one of the reasons that fewer and fewer people are attempting to reach the lost for Christ. Their patience has worn thin.
If you witness to ten people a week, and none of them respond favorably, after a few moths you may become as Jeremiah when he said, “I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.” (Jer. 20:9) They are not listening, they are not paying any attention, most of them are polite, but when no one responds favorably over a long enough period of time, our patience wears thin.
If you want a verse about the patience of our Lord, 2 Peter 3:9 would do just fine, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” That is what patience is, long suffering, suffering for righteousness’ sake, suffering in doing good works for the glory of God and not being noticed.
We possess our souls when we are patient.
Forgive me if I am repeating myself, but there is a story that fits perfectly here. A missionary couple who spent several decades in Africa were retiring from that position and were on their way back home on a ship that the president of the United States happened to be on. While he received the best room on the vessel, many accolades and attention, these two servants of the Most High were in the lowest part of the ship in one of the smallest rooms. When they arrived at their port of call, the president was showered with much fanfare, while they were noticed by no one. They found a very small apartment they could afford and began to live out the last of their lives. But the man was losing patience. “We spent all those years serving Christ in a distant land, few came to call Him Savior, and when we complete our task, no one is waiting for us, no one is offers us any thanks whatsoever.” The man’s wife wisely told him to go into the bedroom and tell the Lord about all his frustrations, to tell Him why he doesn’t believe he has received what he thinks he should have received for all those years of labor. When the man came out of the bedroom, his loving wife said, “Well, did the Lord give you an answer?”
“Yes,” he replied, “He said we have received no rewards yet because we are not home yet.”
“In your patience possess ye your souls.”
