Tag: patience

Luke 1:26-38

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            “Nothing is impossible for God!”  So the angel said to Mary concerning the power of the Holy Spirit to bring about the births of both John and Jesus.  Mary’s response is one full of faith and commitment:  “I am the Lord’s servant! Let it happen as you have said.”  I admire the confident belief of Mary.  There was no cognitive disconnection or spiritual gap between her hearing the Word of God and exercising faith.
 
            It is far too easy to relegate the power of the Holy Spirit and the faith of others to special saintly-type persons.  We common folk cannot surely have such faith!  Yet, we are all called to a life of faith believing that the impossible is always possible with God.  In those times when we think God certainly cannot or will not forgive us for sinning yet again, we are called to trust in the gospel of grace which turns impossible sinners into saints full of possibility.  In those seasons of life where cynicism and sarcasm become our constant companions because we have lost hope that life can be different, God breaks in and speaks impossible words of expectancy which blows our hearts open to the Spirit’s work.  In the days when our faith seems so small and puny that even getting out of bed seems impossible, God takes the littlest mustard seed of belief and grows it so big that even our spiritual blindness can see it.
 
            Just as Mary had to believe and patiently wait for the child within her to gestate, so we must simply believe, wait, and watch for the growth that God gives in the power of his Spirit.  For faith is not some human engineered checklist of right beliefs, but is an active relationship with God through Christ by means of his Holy Spirit.  We only learn such a faith by trying, failing, receiving grace, and going at it again.  Our lives are not impossibly messed up and hopeless because we serve the God of all possibilities.
 

 

            Mighty God, I want to believe; help me in my unbelief!  May I have the faith of Mary so that I can see the power of your Holy Spirit in action through my life into this world.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.

Galatians 6:7-10

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment


             “You reap what you sow” is one of those famous (or infamous) phrases of the Bible.  Some people have a visceral reaction to the statement because it was used in the negative sense to keep kids obedient.  But the actual context for the statement, while not excluding the need to avoid disobedience, is aimed much more toward the necessity of doing good works for others.  In the church’s and the Christian’s work of burden-bearing on behalf of those with crushing loads to carry, we are not to become weary as the walk goes on and on.  “Let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.”
             The main orientation of the verses is patience and perseverance in the doing of good works.  Although it might not seem, at the moment, that our labors are really making a dent at all, God is taking notice.  He sees.  Eventually, if we will keep up the slow, tedious, and often dull work of persisting in doing what is right, it will all pay-off in a harvest of righteousness.
             To be honest, I have struggled with this one in this past week.  I want to see things happen and happen now!  I’m tired of waiting.  I am weary of having the same conversations with people over and over again.  I have grown impatient with impenitent people who only seem to think of themselves.  Alas, welcome to the human race!  The reality is that God cares just as much about the process of attaining a goal as about the goal itself.  We need the encouragement of others in our Christian pilgrimage through this life.  You and I can do it.  Let’s keep going!
             Patient God, you have been waiting for several millennia to complete your work in this world.  It is a small thing for me to keep doing your will with perseverance over the span of my own lifetime.  I look to my model, Jesus Christ, who for the joy set before him endured the cross and reaped eternal life for all who would believe.  Amen.

Job 8:1-22

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            There are various kinds of suffering, and the biblical character of Job experienced them all.  One of the most severe kinds of hurt, and the one that gets far more attention than any other in the book of Job, are the short-sighted rebukes from Job’s “friends.”  God had a severe mercy for Job.  But the friends lived in a black and white world.  Bildad expressed: “God will not reject a blameless man.”
 
            For Bildad, personal suffering equals personal sin and God’s disfavor, period.  Bildad could only see a linear connection, a direct line from sin to calamity.  It was simply out of his equation to think otherwise.  Since Bildad saw suffering as the direct result of sin, his remedy was to exhort toward confession of sin.  The problem with this view is that we, as the readers, already know this to be a patently false understanding of Job’s suffering.  Bildad saw the suffering, but did not discern the unseen dimension of good and evil contending behind-the-scenes between God and Satan.
 
            It is only normal to wonder if we have sinned against God whenever we find ourselves in the crucible of suffering.  But if we have done patient work to determine there is no personal reason for the pain, perhaps there is something going on that is much bigger than us.  Our task, like Job’s, is to entrust ourselves to God.  We might chafe at such counsel because we like to fix things that hurt.  But suffering will not last forever; it will eventually pass.  And God will always have his way in the end.  We must continually keep in mind that permanent faith transcends temporary pain.
 

 

            Loving God, take pity on my life as I seek to embrace you in both good times and bad.  I belong to you, therefore, I will not forsake you no matter how much I do not understand the suffering.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.

Psalm 57

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            One thing we all share about the human experience is that, sooner or later, someone or a group of people will let us down.  On top of that, many have experienced, or will experience, some sort of abuse and victimization from another person or group.  What is more, there are those who have even had their very lives at risk because someone sought them out to actually kill them.  That is the company that David found himself in when King Saul sought to do away with his life.
 
            To David’s credit, he never retaliated and did not try and turn the tables on Saul by putting a hit out on him.  Instead, David cried out to God.  And we get to listen in on the prayer.  Psalm 57 is David’s incredible praying reliance upon the God whom he put all his trust and praise. 
 
            One of the best things about the psalms is that they are a wonderful collection of prayers that we can adopt for our own.  Not only can we use them for ourselves, but we are obliged to do so.  If anyone has been in an adverse situation so deep that it feels like having ambled into a pride of lions, it is quite likely that the experience leaves one with no adequate words to say.  It’s as if you are paralyzed with fear.  So, let the psalm say for you what you cannot even begin to utter yourself.  The Word of God is not meant to sit on a coffee table or rest on a shelf; it is meant to be opened and used for prayer.  Allow it to do its intended purpose.
            Be merciful to me, O God, for in you my soul takes refuge.  Even though I feel the slash of people with tongues as swords, my heart is steadfast and will exalt your name above the heavens.  Let your glory be over all the earth!  Amen.