patience

Learning Patience

Learning Patience

Adapted from a sermon by Fr Michael Fanous

Passage Luke 20:9-19

The Lord uses the analogy of the wicked vinedressers in a parable that recounted the story of Israelites and God up until this point in history. The Lord set up everything nicely and entrusted the land to the vinedressers.

In the Old Testament, the Lord gave the people the law and the commandments. He was always amongst them and created the entire earth for humanity to inhabit. Similarly, the vinedressers wanted the gifts that God had to offer but they didn’t want God Himself.

Israel was God’s chosen people in the Old Testament. He gave them the land, the tabernacle, He dwelt among them, and despite all this, they still rejected Him. Today, people are given so many gifts and benefit immensely from these gifts, yet they continue to reject the source of these gifts. People want the good in life without God, the Provider of goodness.

This could be an issue we face from time to time. When we want the gifts of God, but we don’t always want God. God is patient with all His children. In the Old Testament, He sent prophets, Kings, priests, all people that could voice His Word. The message was clear – to strive for godliness and righteousness. And yet, they rejected Him. To the extent that the prophets were beaten. Isaiah was sawn in half. Zachariah was murdered between the temple and the altar. Jeremiah and Ezekiel were stoned.

All the prophets that were sent suffered and were destroyed for the message they preached. The Lord remains patient with them, and us, to the extent that He sent His Own Son, so that they may return to God. He too, was crucified. God is very patient with us all. He asked for a small amount of fruit among the entire produce, and even that was rejected. The vinedressers believed they were the owners and didn’t need Him.

In the fullness of time, Christ found someone patient and longsuffering who was the virgin Saint Mary. When she was born, she was given as a servant of the temple to do all the tedious jobs that no one else wanted to do, like clean after the animals. When she grew up and it was time for her to leave the temple, they needed somewhere for her live. Throughout this, she was patient. The angel came to her and told she would have a Son, but she wanted to remain a virgin. This was the ultimate answer from God, she was a virgin but still a mother.

Patience was exhibited when she gave birth in a manager. She suffered in her travels to Egypt by night which was a foreign land where no one wanted them. She suffered greatly, the height on this was Christ on the Cross and the accusations that followed.

All the glory that she was given was not something that she took to heart, but she gave glory to God. When she was told she was to be the mother of God, she called herself the maidservant of the Lord. This is all glory that she did not take upon herself. The miracles that followed did not cause her to esteem herself.

What do we learn from St Mary? Long suffering. When we are impatient when we are asked the same question more than once. This is the time to pursue long suffering. Are we impatient with the Lord and our requests of Him? We must recognise the importance of patience. The Lord teaches us, “By your patience possess your souls” – Luke 21:19.

Patience is a virtue we all need. When tribulation passes us by, in patience we trust that Lord will solve it. We need to be patient in order to attain peace with others. The Lord is telling us to be patient, to be like His own mother.

In the coming two weeks of fasting, let us practice patience with everyone. Let us wait on the Lord to give us joy. And in turn, imitate Saint Mary. People learn from the patience they see in others.

Put Off Anger, Put on Patience

The New Man: Part 1

By Myrna Ishak

Picture this – you’re seven-ish years old, sitting on the floor while your school teacher reads a book aloud. Something about a boy living in a peach. The carpet is scratchy and it makes your legs itch; why do you even have to sit here – the lunch bell rings! Your train of thought is cut short as you, and about twenty other children, scramble madly outside. You make a beeline for your favourite playground spot, systematically dodging and weaving between those in your way. You clutch your lunch tightly to your chest – a ham sandwich, an apple, and a bag of Cheetos-equivalent chips. This isn’t working, the thronging crowd of students isn’t even close to dispersing. So, you take a short cut. It’s a risky move, running past the principal’s office when no one’s supposed to be indoors, but really, when is she ever actually in her office?

“And where do you think you’re going?”

Your heart sinks as you turn to face the voice’s source. Her face is pinched, arms crossed, and you feel like a bug under a microscope. To make a long story short, you’ve earned a detention. But so what if you were indoors? You were just passing by – how else were you supposed to get outside with enough time to enjoy your lunch? Your sheepishness and embarrassment are replaced by another feeling and you see red. Time slows down. An orange blur flies through the air, colliding with Mrs Jones’ back as she walks away from of you. Her brown jacket is now pelleted with orange cheese dust where the individual Cheetos made contact, and your single detention has suddenly turned into several.

Over a decade later, I can finally look back at this memory with some amusement. It comes as no surprise that anger has been confirmed to temporarily impact cognition and the way we process external stimuli. I’m sure everyone has a similar story where anger has caused rash behaviour, as Solomon so frankly states:

“For anger rests in the bosom of senseless men” – Ecc 7:9

To put it simply, anger is an emotional state often secondary to a perceived threat. We know it is an inevitable feeling as a range of Biblical figures, from Cain to Jesus, encounter it – but what separates the passion that would cause a man to slaughter his own brother and that which drove our Lord to overturn vendors’ tables in the temple?

Motive and result.

Anger is only justified if its root cause is love of God. If my anger is triggered by my desire for self-preservation, driven by my ego, or in defence of my values or beliefs – it is unjustified.

And what becomes of unjustified anger? There are essentially only a few ways this can go:

My anger is aggressive – I hurt those who hurt me, be it verbally, physically, or with Cheetos. Choose your weapon.
My anger is assertive – I call out those who hurt me and hold them accountable.
My anger is passive – I redirect my anger through other mediums; I ignore, I feign disinterest, I manipulate.
My anger is suppressed – I’m fine, really! The rejection I suffered will only gnaw at my insides until it evolves into bitterness and malice; maybe it’ll even impact my physical health. But I really am just fine.

“An angry man digs up strife, but a furious man digs up sins” – Proverbs 29:22

HH Pope Shenouda III suggests a beautifully practical strategy for dealing with anger:

1. Avoid circumstances known to provoke your anger –

“Do not be a companion to an angry man and do not associate with a quick-tempered friend, lest you learn his ways and receive a snare for your soul” – Proverbs 22:27-28

2. Do not make decisions, be it by thought, word, or action, during a time of anger –

“He who refrains from uttering a harsh word is intelligent, and a longsuffering man has discernment” – Proverbs 17:29

3. And finally, take off the old man and put on the new – put off anger and put on patience. Confess the weaknesses that may have caused you to sin in anger, and train yourself to adopt a disposition of love, long-suffering, and self control.

“But now, you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him …” – Colossians 3:8-10

Patience

By John

Original post by Becoming Fully Alive blog site

Patience is a virtue.

I hate clichés with a passion, but I have a particular distaste for that one, and not because it’s not true – it is true.

I don’t like it for the same reason I hate it when people say “when you pray for patience, God will teach it to you by putting you in a situation that requires you to keep a cool head and endure an unpleasant experience.” This statement is not untrue, but it is not nearly the whole truth. It is almost so watered down that the virtue of patience has come to mean nothing more than being able to stay calm sitting in traffic or being able to stand behind an exceptionally slow old lady using coupons in line at the grocery store, when you are in a rush. While these are desirable characteristics in every human being, mastering these feats does not prove that you know anything about this fruit of the Spirit.

An Introduction to Patience

Many of the parables and teachings of Jesus incorporated the theme of farming/agriculture. Some examples include the Parable of the Sower casting seed on various types of soil, the story of the workers in the vineyard, or the many verses like:

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches” (Matthew 13:31-32).

He continually references this process of planting, watering, watching the seed grow and bear fruit, and pruning so that the plant would bear more fruit. This process of planting a seed and eventually reaping its fruit takes a LONG time. Living in the era of the microwave and fast-food, we often times take this for granted – we probably never even think about how long it took a seed to grow into a tree to produce that apple we are biting into.

Jesus was a carpenter by occupation, so why did He reference farming so much? I believe it was because He wanted to emphasize the way God made the world, in the sense that everything has a process, and things take time to develop. A seed doesn’t produce fruit overnight in the same way that it takes time for a boy to develop into a man. These things require patience.

“See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient” (James 5:7-8)

Patience in Tribulation

Trials and tribulations are going to come into your life if you’ve decided to man up and follow after Christ. It’s not a matter of ‘if’ it’s a matter of ‘when.’ The Bible says so:

“and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12).

The question therefore becomes, not ‘why is this happening to me’ but ‘how am I going to respond to this.’ The Book of James has this to say:

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (James 1:2-4)

Did you get that? Count it joy. Rejoice! Throw a party. Smile on the inside.

Why?

Because your patience is developing! And what’s going to happen when that happens? You will be perfect and complete… lacking nothing. That’s how important this whole patience thing is. Furthermore, the fire of tribulations burn away our imperfections, and the longer it takes, the better off we are in the end because He will have had more time to refine us.

God is always at work in us, especially in the tough times.

“Jesus said to them, My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” (John 5:17)

I encourage you to allow Him to work on you – to mold and purify you to become the man He created you to be.

Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. (James 5:11)

Patience in Prayer

So, you’re crying out to God in prayer and holding onto the verses like:

“If you ask anything in My name, I will do it” (John 14:14)

And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? (Luke 18:7)

…and nothing is happening…

You’re confused. You’re hurt. You’re lost.

You thought God said He would come through. You thought God would answer your prayer. I’ve been there. Actually, I am there, but I want to share something God has told me time and time again- the story is not over yet.

Who are we to put a timeline on God and His perfect plans? In the fullness of time He will act according to His good pleasure for our good and for His glory. We just have to keep going to Him in prayer. We cannot and should not be satisfied with an ‘unanswered prayer.’ Many people would interject at this point and argue: “Oh, if you pray for it and it doesn’t happen then it’s not His will.” This is such a cop out. It’s a phrase used to wrestle the conscience into submission so that you no longer feel the need to pray about this particular subject.

Instead of saying this, let’s wrestle like Jacob did to receive his blessing, let’s pour out our emotions before Him like King David did, and let’s not be afraid to call down fire from heaven like Elijah did. Let’s not give up … for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart (Galatians 6:9).

Our God is one that comes through – exceedingly abundantly above all we can even imagine (Ephesians 3:20). Zacharias and Elizabeth prayed for a child their entire lives, and it wasn’t until he was an ‘old man’, she was ‘well advanced in years’ that God finally blessed them with a baby boy. However, this was not any baby boy; this was John the Baptist, the one about whom Christ said “For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist” (Luke 7:28). Zacharias and Elizabeth got a pretty good deal, but would the story have been the same if they had given up praying?

God hears each and every single prayer, and there are no words prayed in vain if prayed with sincerity. In my heart I know that the longer you pray for something, the better it’ll be when He answers it. He stores up goodness for those who fear Him.

Patience with People

This is the most straightforward section there is, and probably the most difficult to practice.The first word used to describe love in the famous Corinthians passage is that it is patient. In order to have good relationships and really show our love to each other the way God intended; we need to be patient with one another. This is easier said than done, especially when it comes to our family and friends – with those we are most comfortable with.

When Jesus taught his disciples, He would sometimes express disappointment that they didn’t know something:

So, Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding? (Matthew 15:16)

And again:

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? (John 14:9)

But the key is, He would always finish by explaining what He meant to them. He left us this example to follow: even though we might get frustrated with how slow, different, or just plain dumb we may think people are we need to bear these burdens with patience.

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2).

The world would be a different place if we learned to love each other as consistently and as patiently as God loves us.

Original blog found at- https://becomingfullyalive.com/patience/

Find your Moment

Find your Moment

Transcribed sermon by Fr Daniel Fanous

Passage: Luke 1:5-20

Zechariah was an interesting figure. Our Lord Christ at another point in the gospel mentions somebody by the name of Zechariah the son of Berekiah who was murdered between the horns of the altar and the temple (Matthew 23:35). This was somebody that was murdered literally as he was holding onto the altar.

Origen, one of the early church fathers said that perhaps this was Zechariah of our story today. It is theorised that when Herod went to kill all the infants under the age of two, Zechariah was unwilling to give up his son, John the Baptist and so instead, Herod had him murdered between the temple and the alter.

But what is the story of his son?

Zechariah was a priest of the Aaronic priesthood. The Aaronic priests were the descendants of Aaron. For almost a thousand years, there was a generational priesthood. No one became priest unless they were part of this specific family, there were no other ways into the priesthood.

Over this period of time, every son that was born into this family became a priest so over the course of thousands of years, there would have been thousands of priests. The worship in Israel was very different to how it is now, there weren’t multiple churches or synagogues, there was only one temple in Jerusalem and so, there wasn’t enough room for the priests to perform the sacrifices.

They divided them into 24 orders, each order would take one week a year. Then each order would take one week and of the seven days of the week, there would still be hundreds of priests allocated to a certain day. They would then cast lots to determine which priests were worthy of praying on that day. This meant that offering incense was a once in a lifetime gift. On this day, Zechariah was given his moment.

Zechariah and Elizabeth were both, “righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless” (Luke 1:6). BUT they were barren. They were unable to have children. Their infertility had nothing to do with their sin as they was wrongly inferred by the people.

It is one of the most painful things to see someone that cannot have a child. It’s easy then to think that any kind of barrenness, whether physical emotional or spiritual, is a punishment of some kind. But here we see that it wasn’t, instead, it was part of God’s plan.

This is not to say that anyone who is barren will eventually have a child. But regardless God still has a plan. His plan may not be our plan, but He always has a plan. Any kind of failure or barrenness, whatever the cause, was always part of God’s plan, but only if we hold on to God.

When we look back to Zechariah, he was well advanced in years, well beyond the time of children, while his wife was postmenopausal. For many years, they tried for a child, they laid their lives before God walking blamelessly and obeying the commandments. At their age, there was no hope left to hold on to. The much easier scenario would have been to walk away from the God that seemingly ignored their prayers.

It would have been extremely easy for them to think that God doesn’t exist. He didn’t stick to their plan and He didn’t give them the desires of their heart. After this suffering that lasted many years, after this total loss of hope, Zechariah’s moment came.

His lot came, after he had lost all hope and thought there was no chance of conceiving a child. His lot was taken and his once in lifetime chance came for him to go to Jerusalem to worship. Zechariah lived Hebron; Hebron is about 30 kilometres south of Jerusalem. Roughly the distance between Cronulla to the middle of Sydney CBD.

Zechariah could have easily thought in this moment, what is the point? He served his entire life, yet his one request was not answered by God. Instead, he took his moment. Each one of us in our lives will have a series of moments. Some quiet moments, some very subtle moments, some of them very, very dramatic moments. God at certain points in our lives will reach into our lives and touch us. Sometimes when we expect other times when we don’t expect it.

Perhaps then like Zechariah, God has left us barren. Our lives have not gone according to our plans. But still God reaches out and touches us. And in these moments, we must respond. It may be simply an awakening to sin – a realisation of something I have done, something I’m doing is afflicting me and obstructing my spiritual life. It may be a gentle niggling feeling that I’ve been avoiding confession. It may be a moment of inexplicable joy that I received joy that God touches my heart during prayer or when I listen to a word or when I’m in church.

It may be an awareness that something is far greater than me. It may be an overwhelming sense that God wants me to do something. When you feel these moments, your lot has been cast. Your moment has come. How then do we react to these moments?

Do we ignore? Do we push it? Do we continue to distract ourselves so we don’t hear it? We must understand these are our moments.

We must discern these moments and cease them before they pass. There was a lady that came who had left the church for a long time that came for a baptism. After the baptism she to me to say goodbye. And as she came up to me, she tried to rush away from me and she began to cry.

I said, “are you alright?”

She replied, “No, no, it’s just something in my eye.”

I said, “Okay, that’s fine, something always goes in my eyes as well.”

And then she left. I messaged her after and I said to her, “There wasn’t something in your eye, is everything alright?”

She replied, “Sometimes whatever happens in church, I just miss it. And I thought you know; this is the chance. This is the chance.”

She didn’t come to church and I didn’t see her there again, but she had a moment. She walked into church and she felt something deeply touched her, but she ignored it. Her moment came, and we can only pray that God gives her many more moments.

The opposite scenario presented itself when I met a young monk in Egypt. He told me that he never entered a church his entire life. He had nothing to do with church, but that wasn’t because he had anything against God, he just didn’t know Him, and was never exposed to church.

One day, a friend of his invited him to play soccer, and the soccer field happened to be in the field of the church. As he walked into the church’s gates thinking only of soccer, a priest walked past him and the priest must’ve mistaken him for someone else, walked to him and said, “I have missed you so much,” and gave him a big hug. In that moment, he began to cry, and he didn’t know why. He said that in that moment it was the first time he felt he had a father. That was all it took, and from then on, he attended every church service for a year and then entered the monastery.

St Anthony the Great heard one verse – “If you would be perfect, give up all you have and follow Me,” and that was enough. He paid attention to his moment. He left and became the greatest monk of the church.

Zechariah had more reason than all of us to ignore his moment. He was a priest, he was blameless, he walked righteously, he obeyed the commandments, and yet for 40 years his prayer was ignored. Despite all logic, he walked 30 kilometres across hill country to Jerusalem, where unbeknown to him, he would receive his moment.

He drew near to God, and God drew near to him, as He revealed His plans that Elizabeth’s barrenness was only for a period to prepare the way for the birth of John the Baptist. While this is not God’s plan for everybody, God always has a plan. He has a plan for you and me, but in the right moment.

Zechariah almost missed his moment, but the nine months of muteness that followed was almost God’s way of forcing him to reflect upon this moment. God wanted him to discern, to stop, to think, to reflect, to perceive the gravity of that moment. When your moment comes, don’t ignore it, but come to God so that He may move your heart.

Long Suffering

Long Suffering

by Demiana Salib

The fire you threaten me with cannot go on burning for very long; after a while it goes out. But what you are unaware of are the flames of future judgement and everlasting torment which in store for the ungodly. Why do you go on wasting time? Bring out whatever you have a mind to.

These are the words of Polycarp of Smyrna as he faced his martyrdom. In the written account of the Martyrdom of Polycarp, Polycarp is questioned several times by the Governor and is eventually put to death because he would only reaffirm his faith all the more strongly upon further questioning. The Governor had no real intention of killing Polycarp. Polycarp was a frail, old man that could do no harm – who would want to be responsible for his death? It was a case of “pick on someone your own size.” Despite his frail appearance, the height of his virtue however, moved the hearts of the crowd of unbelievers of which, went on to become Christian.

Although martyrdom does not exist in our world, what does remain is the history of martyrs and those that continue to be martyred in our home country, Egypt. We share in their struggles through prayer. We share in their struggles by elevating their suffering above our own. We share in their struggles by looking upon our own lives and finding reasons to be thankful that far out way our complaints. The very reason we can complain in this day and age is because God has already blessed us to the extent that we have created expectations of Him, but in reality, He doesn’t owe us anything. We, that complain, have been blessed with grace beyond measure. If we fail to recognise these gifts of grace, we fail to acquire patience.

It is much easier to tell God what we think is best, that our ways are higher than His. This present moment that leaves you questioning how your circumstances could be for your benefit is the very feeling that God is using to turn your impatience into patience. We pressure Him in prayer, we treat Him like He is doing His job all wrong. We create a very simple formula. I pray, He answers, I live happily ever after. But there’s so more that we don’t see. Out of His love for us, He carries us, kicking and screaming, because we can only see two steps ahead of us when He sees the whole picture.

We may pray every day so that whatever struggles we are going through, God takes care of. But do we pray in order to brainstorm for God possible solutions to end all our problems? If only He could see how simple the solution really is, He would’ve acted by now. The term, “long suffering” is used interchangeably with “patience.” Yes, you may be suffering, and this may cause you to think that this is the path to acquiring virtue, but if you are not patiently enduring, you are depriving yourself of virtues. God is perfect; we are not. Therefore, we do not test God’s faithfulness; He tests us. In prayer, we do not pray to alert God to our problems; we pray so that we may hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering so that we always remember that He who promised is faithful and will deliver us from all our troubles (Hebrews 10:23).

St Paul had out he called a thorn in his side. A hinderance to his service. But God had other plans. God used his infirmity to teach him the gift of long suffering. While the exact cause of his infirmity is unknown, it is speculated that St Paul was prone to seizures. He prayed relentlessly for the healing of his infirmity, yet was not healed. If speculation of seizures was correct, this is likely to have been both debilitating and humiliating for St Paul. In a time where Christianity was despised and looked down upon, St Paul was also risking his own self-worth for the sake of Gospel, should his infirmity come to light while preaching. Would he choose to wallow in self pity or would he humbly accept his infirmity, look past its potential hindrance and preach the Gospel?

Through the thorn in his side, St Paul became a true example of patience acquired through long suffering. He didn’t know when his infirmity would become a hindrance to his service; all he knew was that he had the message of salvation that needed to be shared, so he took a step, and God blessed it. He recounts the peace that followed when he selflessly chose service over his own self doubt. He says, “And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2. Cor. 12:9-10). It was never God’s intention to hinder Paul’s service, but strengthen him beyond what he thought was attainable. By recognising and giving his infirmities to God, he emptied himself and allowed God to strengthen and fulfil his ministry in a way that is far beyond our understanding of Love.

Patiently endure your tribulations, as difficult as it may sound, especially at first. Learn from every lesson that presents itself as tribulation in your life. Look at the struggles of those around you and see them as greater than your own. Then even your greatest struggles will seem small to the one that elevates those around them. Allow Him to turn your impatience into patience. Your earthly being into a heavenly being of virtue.

“And the more you withdraw yourself from all solace of creatures, so much the sweeter and more powerful consolation shall you find in Me.” – Thomas Kempis

Use It Before You Lose It

Use It Before You Lose It

By Fr Thomas Hanna

We need to learn how to be patient… when do we need to be patient? We learn this from James 5:7?

“Therefore be patient brethren until the coming of the Lord see how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.”

When do we need to be patient? We need to be patient when circumstances are uncontrollable! We’ve got to learn from farmers… farmers do certain things that are in their control and certain things that are not in their control. They don’t control when it rains or when the sun comes out… they don’t control these things and these things are necessities for seeds to yield a crop! Uncontrollable. Uncontrollable things! See how the farmer waits for the “precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives its early and its latter rain”? So God knows what is needed for this crop, He knows that an early rain is needed, that there needs to be sun in between, then rain again afterwards… God knows this.

We need to learn that there are certain circumstances that we need, that are often uncontrollable. For instance, how about reconciling with someone, is that always in your control? It’s not always in your control because sometimes, a person may want to reconcile with someone and sometimes that other person just doesn’t want to reconcile or is just not ready for it… uncontrollable circumstances. We have to realise that there will be certain situations in our life that will be uncontrollable. We need patience there. When else do we need patience? My brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of suffering and patience. What did the prophets do? What’s the job description of a prophet? To prophesise, to help people repent, to spread the good news, to be the voice of God. Name a famous prophet? Jonah. Jonah was a prophet. Jonah was a prophet that was sent to a city that needed repentance. Were those people, in his mind, changeable or unchangeable? Unchangeable! And that’s why he decided not to go in the beginning! We have to understand we need patience when people seem to be unchangeable! Show patience and there will be peace.

A lot of times when we’re arguing with someone and they seem that they don’t get me, they don’t understand my situation, what I tend to do is… I tend to speak louder! Because maybe they’ll understand if I speak louder, or if I speak slower and louder they’ll get it, or if I use simpler words, they’ll get it. But seriously… if I show patience in my household, there will be peace in my household. But if I don’t show patience, what’s going to happen? Things will blow up! That’s not because of others… thats because of me! So patience needs to be there when people are unchangeable.

You’ve heard of the perseverance of Job. We need patience when problems are unexplainable. Job didn’t have an explanation about what happened to him. He was the wealthiest person and then within 48 hours, he had nothing. He lost his family, his friends, his business, his health… he lost everything. It was unexplainable why things happened like that. Why did things like this happen to Job? Why did God have to put him through this? Or why did God allow it? No one can observe this and say “yeh that was a good idea God”… no one is going to say that. There’s certain things in our life, problems in our life that we won’t be able to ever explain.

When we went to Bolivia, we took a group to a disabled home, which was the last thing we were doing in Bolivia. It was very hard on us to go… we didn’t know what to expect. When we got there, the first thing we saw was disabled children that were in cages and distant… images that are really hard to forget and very hard to see. And the first question that we had was… why? Why God are you allowing this to happen? Why do they still exist? Like why don’t you cut their lives short and let them live in heaven with you where there’s no grief and no sorrow and no groaning, why wouldn’t You let that happen?

That was our first question. Unexplainable. These are things that are unexplainable, because there is nothing that God could tell me right now and say, I’ve done this, I’ve allowed this to happen to this child for this reason and I would go “wow, that is a great reason.” There’s nothing. Because we would always find a reason to say “that’s not a good reason” or “there’s a different way to do things” and a lot of us struggle with the idea of – God why are you doing it that way?

Recently, we’ve been speaking to some of the youth and their questions are going back to “Why did God even create the tree of knowledge?” Why did He put that tree there if He knew we were going to fall? Why did He put it there? Doesn’t He love us?”

And all these questions are coming, and sometimes we have to understand that there’s going to be problems in this world. We live in a broken world, and it’s not going to be explainable. We can try as much as we can to explain it, but at a certain point, we’ve got to just say “Okay God. I accept and I’m going to cooperate with You.” So why be patient? Why patience? Because God is in control.