We’ve all heard the story of the Israelites walking around the desert for 40 years; 40 years, can you even imagine! Other than live, most of us don’t have that kind of time under our belt for anything–where we live, who we live with, where we work, etc. How about Noah and the Ark? When Noah is first mentioned in Genesis 5:32, he is 500 years old. When Noah enters the ark, he is 600 years old. The time it took to build the ark would depend on how much time had passed between Genesis 5:32 and the time that God commanded Noah to build the ark (Genesis 6:14-21). At the absolute most, it took 100 years. What about Abraham and Sarah, how old was Sarah when she conceived a child–90 years old. And Jesus, He lived in obscurity for 30 of His 33 years. The Savior of the world, the King of the world lived quietly and patiently for all but 3 years of His earthly life. And then He only publically served for 3 years here on Earth. I get impatient when I have to sit through two red lights, my microwave potatoes take 10 minutes instead of 8 or my Amazon purchase can’t get here in 2 business days. Today’s Bible verses about patience takes a look at the patience of the great ones in the Bible.
Bible Verses About Patience
I don’t know about you, but more often than not I say or think, “If only I would have been patient.” Without really shifting blame–but kind of–can I protest this isn’t entirely my fault? I mean I live in a world where I can eat “fresh” tomatoes in January. I don’t have to wait until the middle of summer to have my tomato! I mean sure, in the middle of summer they taste like the sun, look ruby red and are incredibly juicy and delicious. But I don’t have to wait for the good stuff when I can run into the store middle of January and get the okay stuff right?
And what about Christmas? Who has time to wait for Christmas–I mean actually take time during Advent (Have you downloaded my free Daily Advent Devotional yet? It is so good!) to prepare. We can start getting our decorations ready in October and by December 26th we can habe everything packed up nice and tidy until the next year. Who has time to wait around until the Epiphany or Candlemass for that matter? Come on, life is moving and we better be moving with it.
But if I stop and consider who or what I want to imitate, it’s not the world–it’s the Creator of the world…it’s not the people of this earthly life–it’s those already in their heavenly glory. Have you ever thought about the fact that God could have easily created the world in one day? Why did He take 7? Why did Jesus live on this earth for 30 years before beginning His official ministry? Why did He live for 3 more? And even before that, why did God choose for the Savior of the world to be carried in the womb of a woman for 9 months?
Maybe faster and quicker isn’t better?
Maybe there really is a time and season for everything?
Maybe God’s timing has a specific purpose?
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