January 17 - The Patience of Faith
Scripture
- Hebrews 11:9-10 By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Observation
Abraham was immediately willing to give up his homeland, his friends, his business, his religion—everything. He wasted no time putting all these things behind him. But faith also has a time for waiting and for being patient.
Dwelling in tents was the way of travelers and nomads. Even in Abraham's time, tents were not considered permanent residences. Not only Abraham but also his son and grandson, Isaac and Jacob, lived out their lives in tents. They were in the land God had promised, but they did not settle down in it. Those great patriarchs, in fact, would never possess the land, except by faith. The land was in sight but not in hand. Near as it was, the land was still only a promise. Abraham did not build any houses or cities.
He lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land.
As a transient in the land, he had to be patient. Because the land was promised to him, patience must have been all the harder. Abraham walked up and down the land God had promised him, yet never owned more than a small plot in which to bury Sarah (Gen. 23:9-20). It was promised but never possessed. Abraham's faith required a great deal of patience in order to live without grumbling as an alien in his own land.
Abraham waited patiently for the really valuable things. He never saw God's promise fulfilled; he just waited and waited and waited. Often the hardest times for us as believers are the in-between times, the times of waiting. We are tempted to say, even to God, "Promises! Promises!" Abraham spent a great deal of time waiting. He waited long years for the son of promise, who was finally given. He waited all his life for the land of promise, which was never given. Yet he waited and watched and worked in the patient belief that God is faithful.
It is discouraging to pray and trust and work and see no results. A mother may pray for 15, 20, or 30 years for the salvation of her son, and never see him come to Christ. A minister may serve in a church faithfully for ten years and see little evidence of spiritual growth. True faith is deaf to doubt, dumb to discouragement, and blind to impossibility. No matter what it experiences, it sees only the promised success.
The secret of Abraham's patience was his hope in the ultimate fulfillment of the promise of God. His ultimate Promised Land was heaven, just as ours is. Even had he possessed the land of Canaan in his lifetime, it would not have been his ultimate inheritance. He was patient because his eyes were on the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. As important as the earthly land was to him and to God's promise, he looked up toward the heavenly land, which he knew he would inherit without fail.
It is when we concentrate on things below that we live and die with every little thing that goes wrong or seems to last too long or is not successful or appreciated. That is why Paul tells us to…
- • set our minds "on the things above, not on the things that are on earth" (Col. 3:2).
Understanding
What is God saying to me?
When our minds are on heaven we will be patient with what happens down here. If we look continually at the things of this world—its trials, troubles, and struggles on the one hand, or its money, fame, and pleasures on the other, then we cannot help becoming absorbed in the impatient desires of the flesh. But if we keep focusing on heaven, on God, on Jesus Christ, then we do not care about what goes on here.
- • "Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus," Paul tells Timothy. "No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier" (2 Tim. 2:3-4).
Life Application
What will I do about it?
God I am beginning to get it. You have set me here to be a part in a chain of events. I am always frustrated because I cant see the fulfillment of those promises of being a Great Commission Movement but your timing and mine is different. I will be patient and I will keep my eyes on the prize – putting one foot in front of the other and being obedient while looking to eternity as the fulfillment of the ultimate promise.
God I will trust and be grateful for the journey.