Patience in the New Year

A Diamante Poem

Patience,

difficult, virtuous,

waiting, longing, enduring,

fruit, commandment, forbearance, resignation

tolerating, restraining, submitting,

crucial, desirous,

Longsuffering.

Our soul waiteth for the LORD:

he is our help and our shield.

Psalm 33:20

Wait for it….

Wait for it….

Wait for it…

Waiting. Who among us likes it? Not too many, including me.

Yet, waiting, or patience, is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

Did you find “patience” in the above verses? Since I use the King James version here on my blog, the word for patience in the above verse is longsuffering.

Long. Suffering.

Hum. I’m letting that sink in. Even short suffering’s not that great!

I remember a young woman who always wanted to have fun. She lived by the motto that if something wasn’t fun, it wasn’t worth doing. But, think about that: How can everything be fun? Does God make sure everything is fun for us? Or, does He sometimes send, or allow, difficulty for us to endure? Is faith an easy ride? Or, are there high waves to sail over? And if so, why?

Here it is, my word for the 2020 year: Patience.

Every post on Poems and Prayer this year will end with the word “patience”.

Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.

Ecclesiastes 7:8-9

Patience is better than pride. And anger. Go figure! Seriously, though, I think God knows it’s difficult for us to be patient (and easy for us to be proud and angry). God’s Word to us is for a reason. He wouldn’t have had it put in the Bible if it weren’t so and He wants us to study it for our benefit.

And so, for example, knowing His Word, we can appreciate an older, patient woman keeping her composure when a younger, angry woman spouts off in a long, slow grocery line. Or, be encouraged by the beauty of a seasoned grandfather taking time to help the grandchild. Or, gain a lesson from watching a child waiting for the younger child to correctly write the letters of her name.

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; for he is faithful that promised.

Hebrews 10:23

Faith without wavering is maintained better with patience, wouldn’t you say? We are assured through God’s Word and by the Spirit that our journey will be worth our integrity to go another day, waiting on the Lord. The devil doesn’t want creation to believe there are any prized promises to endure for from our Creator. Don’t be listening to him.

If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Hebrews 12:7

As we know, discipline doesn’t seem pleasant at the time. But, in the end, it can bring a good result. Some of us were disciplined as children. And some of us parents have disciplined our children (and wondered if we disciplined enough or too much). There is discipline in waiting on God. The Holy Spirit inside us guides our words and actions. The devil doesn’t want creation to respect the authority of the Creator. Don’t be listening to that, either.

And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

Genesis 16:2

Sarai, who eventually became Sarah, was 90 years old. But she had to wait a little bit longer, didn’t she? Well, she didn’t. She figured that since she couldn’t get pregnant it might be good to have children through Hagar, her maidservant. Sarah’s plan sounded reasonable to her but it wasn’t God’s plan. Abram, who would become Abraham, and Sarah learned to wait on the LORD. And they were blessed for it.

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31

There is something to waiting on the Lord. It involves not giving up no matter how long the suffering continues. Resignation means sticking to something no matter what difficulty continues to plague. It’s resolve. It’s guts—nerves of steel in keeping faith in an awesome God even in the face of adversity. A saying shines true: “God doesn’t get His best sailors on calm seas”. There will be high waves. Maybe even God allowed them. But, God is bigger than the waves.

Prayer is that privilege available to us to affect an outcome. Patience and prayer go together. Through diligence, we can keep praying about the thing that keeps us up at night. Even when struggling with prayer and patience, Jesus can intercede on our behalf. He knows the sick heart barely able to pray on. He can heal the broken heart. There is blessing in waiting on the Lord. There is reward in acknowledging that God is in control.

Here, in my neck of the woods, we had a fair amount of snow, about a foot. But, there is bare ground showing now due to warm days and rain lately. The downhill ski places nearby must be crying. Rain is the worst element when trying to keep snow on the mountain for skiers and snowboarders. Our patchy glade isn’t pretty with half old snow and half matted lawn. Today’s drabness is temporary. I know these woods will come alive in spring.

I just have to have patience.