This must be what you all were talking about when you brought up the Texas heat. Today's eNews comes to you from a church without power or A/C ... and it is getting
toasty in here.
As I have been identifying more and more with a roast chicken today, I have been reminded of a powerful lesson that God has for all of us: patience.
In this day and age, we hate waiting very long for things. Many adults remember the days of dial-up Internet - and, as such, having to wait any longer than a second for a website to load seems unbearable because we've already done our time dealing with that!
Everything nowadays is about speed: deliveries, the Internet, food. Whatever it is, we want it ASAP. But sometimes, life doesn't work that way. In fact, there are many times in life where God reminds us about patience by providing us with opportunities to wait.
There are many times where I really struggle with waiting. But if we look at scripture, we see that God follows through in his time for those who are willing to be patient.
One of the biggest examples of a group of people having to be patient comes from the book of Exodus. When Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt, they must wait 40 years before they reach the Promised Land. Now I don't know about you, but if I had anything I was waiting for have an estimated arrival date of 40 years down the road, I would have a very hard time accepting that! As they wandered, the Israelites struggled with waiting as well. They often moaned and wailed at their present circumstances, unsure of when things would end.
I feel as though many of us do that in life. When we are enduring hardship for an extended period of time, we begin to wail and complain about
everything in our lives. But that is not the lesson to be learned from the people of Israel.
In 1 Corinthians 10:5, Paul tells us that although Israel were God's chosen, "God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert." In times of hardship, our reliance on God is a true reflection of our faith. If we groan and grumble our way through tough times, it can indicate a lack of trust in Christ. Late in that same chapter, Paul reminds us of the truth of it all when it comes to hardship, trials, and temptations. In verse 13, he says that, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
To me, this is a reminder: No matter what hardship I may be going through, no matter how tempting it may be to turn from God and begin to give in to sinful ways - He
always provides a way out. It may not be in our time or in our way, but He always gives us a way out.
My hope is that you are as encouraged by that as I am, because no matter where we are in life, no matter how long we have endured hardship, if we remain patient and trust in the Lord, He will show us His way out of our present circumstance. So stay strong, remain true to Him, remain patient in Him, and know that He has a way out for you.
As for me, I will take the way out He is giving me from this increasingly warm church building: the front door.
Staying patient and waiting for His exit sign,
Pastor Andrew
