Today we continue our series entitled, “Faith and Patience Volume IV — The Wonder Twins”. I have laid the foundation for faith. Starting today, I will do the same for patience. Let’s get into it.
(Hebrews 6:12 ERV)
We don’t want you to be lazy. We want you to be like those who, because of their faith and patience, will get what God has promised.
(Proverbs 20:6 KJV)
Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?
I have done lots of teaching on God’s faithfulness towards us. Today I will deal with our faithfulness and consistency towards Him.
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. What is Biblical patience?
What is patience? Most people think of patience as simply waiting. In one sense this is true, but biblical patience is more than simply waiting. The word translated patience in Hebrews 6:12 is the Greek word hupomone. This is a compound word, comprised of both hupo, which relates to one’s position and means “under”, and mone, which means to abide or remain constant and consistent. A Bible dictionary defines this word as: steadfastness, consistency, endurance; the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith, even under the greatest trials and sufferings; a patient enduring, sustaining, perseverance.
In light of this information, I define patience as:
a) The ability to remain the same (internally), despite circumstances (externally).
b) The force of consistency.
Patience is more than simply waiting on something to happen, but rather remaining consistent while you wait. You can see how this ability, coupled with faith, is very important. Hebrews 6:12 tells us that we need both faith (to believe God) and patience (to endure and remain consistent while we wait) in order to see the manifestation of God’s promises in our lives. That’s what this series is all about. Faith and Patience: The Wonder Twins!
2. God is looking for faithfulness and consistency from us.
People like to hear about God’s faithfulness towards us, but we also need to be reminded of His requirement for us to be faithful and consistent towards Him. Solomon was the richest man on the planet during his day. He had access to just about anything he wanted. But what he considered to be hard to find was faithfulness (see Prov 20:6). it ‘s hard to find people who are truly going to be consistently the same, day-in and day-out, for the long haul. But this is exactly what God is looking for from us.
I like to teach by both precept and example. I will give you an example today that I have never shared publicly in this forum. I am led to do so because it helps make the point I am teaching this morning.
In 1997 I was assigned to Fort Hood, TX. Before I left Augusta, GA, where I was in training, the Lord spoke to me concerning the church I would join. One of my best friend’s uncle was a Pastor in Copperas Cove, TX, and the Lord made it clear to me that He wanted me to join his church. So I arrived in Central Texas in August of 1997 and I joined the church. I was welcomed in by the Pastor and he immediately took me under his tutelage. He mentored me and gave me opportunities to teach. Shortly after arriving there, I was licensed to preach the Gospel.
When I arrived, the church was fasting from midnight to noon every weekday, and we would break the fast after a noon-day Bible study. This was awesome for me. I was a young Minister, and at the same time, I was a young Warrant Officer, who was serving as a Platoon Leader and Company XO for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 57th Signal Battalion. I would get up, go to work, do what I had to do, and then for lunch I would make the quick drive to church, sit in on a 30 minute Bible study, and break the fast as I grabbed something to eat on my way back to work. I did this every weekday. It was not long before the Pastor allowed me to teach that midday Bible study, and a few months into it, he let me take it over.
It was around this time that I started Today’s Word. In December of 1997, I sent out my first “Today’s Word” to 8 people via email. When the Lord told me to share His Word with His people every day, I never thought I would still be doing it over 22 years later.
So there I was, a young Minister and a young officer, loving life. I shared God’s Word in the morning via email, I went to work, and I then broke away at lunch to teach the Bible study. I also taught Sunday school and every once in awhile I was given the chance to teach Wednesday night Bible study or preach on Sunday. For a young minister, this was great. I loved it. The noonday Bible study grew and before long, we had over 40 people showing up every day. This was huge for us because we were not a big church. But this was an AME church and I did not know that every year, the Bishops in the AME church, are able to make a decision on whether or not Pastors stay where they are, of they can get reassigned. Since our church was growing and there was a need in Corpus Christi, my Pastor was reassigned. It was like my heart was ripped out of my chest. I was crushed.
We received a new Pastor. I won’t name names or get into details, but I will say that the new Pastor did not support the daily fasts, he did not support the noonday Bible study, and he changed so many things, so fast, that all the growth we had seen was reversed. People left the church and stopped coming to noonday Bible study. I saw the number drop from 40 to 30, from 30 to 15, from 15 to 5, and then ultimately, one day, I was in the church alone, ready to teach, and NO ONE showed up. I sat there and cried.
While I was crying, the Holy Spirit got ahold of me. He asked me if I had my lesson. I said yes. He told me to teach. But NO ONE was there. He said, “I am here.” So, as crazy as it sounds, I wiped my tears and stood behind the podium, and I started to teach to the pews. By the time 3 women arrived, I remember giving them a handout and saying, “Well, I am on point #3. You guys missed #1 and #2. But it was good.” They looked at me like I was crazy, but I kept teaching.
I learned a lesson that day about faithfulness. I can’t tell you how many times the Holy Spirit has reminded me of that day and others like it. Listen, God never promised it would be easy. He just promised to be with us. Sure, you want God to be faithful to you. But are you being faithful to Him? I mean, truly faithful? Like, “the force of consistency” faithful?
God is looking for us to be faithful and consistent. Solomon asked, “A faithful man, who can find?” Can God find faithfulness and consistency in you?
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I declare, by faith, that I am both faithful and consistent. I have the faith to believe and the patience to endure. I am not moved by changes in people or circumstances. I am only moved by You. I will stand on Your promises, no matter how long You take to bring them to pass, and I will keep believing until I see every promise You have ever spoken to me fulfilled. I live with a confident expectation of manifestation every day. I know I will see You do what You said You would do, in my life, before I die. And it is this confident expectation that enables me to be consistently the same, ever day! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
