Work towards patience and find your reward

Anyone who has been sick for an extended period knows that, during these times, we develop curious amounts of one important trait: patience.

Some say the real blessing from above actually lay in the waiting, you know, the time we spend pining and anticipating God's response to our tribulations. That time, as many know by experience, can take a long time. So what do we do during that time that can make us better people? Well, God talks about that very thing in his word.

It confirms that we all don't inherently have patience. We must work at it. Man, can't we all begin with patience? Nope. I've learned this time and again, whenever I'm in the hospital, or recovering from surgery, or waiting for career opportunities to happen.

James 1 even says we must work towards earning a beginner's level of patience. It reads, "Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have it perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing" (NKJV).

Ecclesiastes 3 in the Old Testament talks about waiting for God's timing. Now that's something I've been praying a lot about lately. In verse 3, it reads, "There is a time for healing, a time to break down and a time to build up." Everyone can relate to that statement. Sure, we want things now. But read that again. To me, the passage kind of lets us off the hook. It says that it's OK to sit tight for a period of time, whether it's taking time to heal or mend. God is cool in that way. Rather than put pressure on us, He says, "Just chill out, friend."

Can't we all be helped by taking that literally? I know I can.

God doesn't stop there, however. In 2 Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul says something very interesting which we can all rally around. It says in Chapter 1:3-4, "...the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God..."

Wow. He's saying, without mincing words, that our patience in the time of tribulation is what earns us points with the Big Man himself! So, it's actually to our benefit to be patient, however hard, because God sees our effort in this area. It's hard to do, don't get me wrong. But I know from my own experiences that if He's watching me, and approves, good things happen.

So remember, when times are hard because of your illness or condition, He's watching you. We can either choose to rush our condition (a trap we all fall into) or we can wait it out. And as long as our heart is in the right place, this period of waiting will pay off in the end. I hope it does for you, too.