Daily Devotional

Are you familiar with the phrase “patience is a virtue”? I would imagine most are, however I think it is a phrase that no one, at least in America, really believes anymore. We are a “I want it now” culture. A culture of Amazon Prime one day shipping, of fast food, shortcuts, and get rich quick schemes. The idea of waiting and patience I think is now counter culture.

This mentality can show up in our spiritual lives as well. We can reduce God to a quick fix solution hoping He will simply solve all our problems and make us rich, all while we ignore Him when we don’t think we need Him. And while God does love us and delights in blessing His children, I think if you read your Bible you’ll find that as a christian, life is not guaranteed to be all smiles and rainbows. The process of sanctification, becoming more like Christ, is a long and difficult one. We are born sinners and therefore our natural instinct is to be all about ourselves and no one else.

But God is working on us and wants to make us more like His Son. Hardships, trials, temptations, and the like are all opportunities for us to grow in our faith and character slowly becoming more Christlike in the process. This often goes along with waiting patiently for the Lord. Waiting for His timing, for His deliverance, and for His wisdom. Waiting on the Lord is an act of faith. If we truly believe God is in control then waiting for Him instead of trying by our own power to solve everything is a manifestation of that faith. Psalm 46:10 says “Be still and know that I am God.” Meditate on that this week as you encounter life’s challenges. Be still, wait for the Lord, remember that He is God and draw your hope from the promises found in His word. Put another way, Let go and let God.

When you can give your worries over to the Lord you can find a peace that you cannot explain in the midst of whatever you are going through. You can wait on the Lord knowing He is bigger than anything you are going through, and will either remove it, give you strength to face it, or be with you through it. No matter what, our hope is in the Lord.

New King James Version (NKJV) Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.