FAITH WITHOUT PATIENCE

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FAITH WITHOUT PATIENCE

So many people talk about faith but seldom talk about patience not realizing that these two interact with each other. We often express our faith concerning an issue or a dream without considering the act of  patience towards reaching that dream. When Faith is preached in churches or in other gatherings, the atmosphere is usually charged up with positive mentality and then everyone gets ready to conquer the world and every opposition that sets in but then reality sets in  as we face challenges with doubts, fears and insecurities in us not realizing faith needs a handle to be properly effective and that handle is called patience. Faith without patience makes people start off good but burnout over time while patience without faith only makes one to constantly suffer for no reason and without the power to change their situation. Faith can't really work without patience. If we must have faith concerning a thing that we so desire, then we must have patience to see this come to pass. You can't profess to say you have faith on a thing and can't be patient enough to see it come to pass. You must know what to do in between the space of "I believe" and "Yes! this is it". There are times we claim to have faith concerning a thing but what we do, how we do what we do is what makes our patience effective in expressing our faith. Patience is developed when your faith is being tested. These two work hand in hand and interact with each other. One can't really do without the other. According to Kenneth Copeland, Faith and Patience are Twin Powers that work hand in hand.




What is Faith?
"Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1. 
Expressing your faith shows you strongly believe in God and that you have an assurance that, that which He has promised you, He will bring to fulfillment. It is a practical expression of your confidence in God and in His word. It is verifying as real what you can not see or feel with your senses. It is also believing that God's word is real even when we can not verify it with our senses or see no way out yet we believe. There are certain individuals in our lives whom we can attest that can not fail us based on their personalities, characters or life history simply because we have known them over a certain period of time so as a result, we can verify that to a large extent these people won't fail as long as it is within their reach to be of help but that is not the case with God. We don't need to verify, we just believe that He can do it knowing He is a God with unlimited resources unlike man with limited resources. Even the very person we believe can not fail due to proven character, can still fail due to limited resources or over stretched dependence. God can always do that which we require as long as it's within His will(His word). Faith is believing in an invisible God to do that which seems impossible to do in a visible world.


What is Patience? 
Patience on the other hand does not simply mean waiting and just waiting for something to happen neither is the word patience a passive word in this context like so many people think. It is the ability to remain the same (internally) regardless of the circumstance (externally), calm and consistent while you wait. At this point of waiting, so many things can happen to disrupt your peace. Frustration and temptations can set in making you do the unthinkable, different kinds of thoughts play in your mind saying its not possible and that God will not do it or that God has not answered your prayers. Sometimes, its the kind of advise people give that tend to sway us. Other times it is the offers we get from people to lure us into doing the wrong thing or going the wrong direction making it seem like waiting on God and doing the right thing is a waste of time. The waiting period of course will not come out easy but how you compose yourself, remain sane and the same its what makes the waiting worth it and the faith more powerful.

Without faith, we loose battles especially with the constant inflow of negative thoughts that come to our minds but with faith, we are able to quench all the fairy darts of the devil renewing our minds daily with God's words. Faith is developed by the word of God and patience developed by the testing of our faith. When we go through certain things or that the prayers we have prayed for are not answered, it is not really us that are tested but our faith which in turn builds our patience and then develops our character. When our patience is built, we become mature and lack nothing. "Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. "Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:3-4.


Everything you believe and have faith in will be tested but when you remain the same in being patient you get to the promise land through your faith. In the midst of troubles and tribulations, it is faith and patience that works for you. When your faith is being tried, it is patience that helps to complete the perfect work if allowed. Faith without patience leads to worrying, frustration and taking wrong steps. Lets look at the lives of two people (Moses and Joseph) in the Bible and how they used faith and patience in their lives.

Moses in the Bible knew the plan of God for his life as one who lead the Israelites out of the Egyptian bondage. He believed and had faith that he would someday lead the Isrealites out of Egypt but he wasn't  patient enough for God's timing as regards his vision. He took a wrong step the moment he tried to save the Hebrew boy from the Egyptian in a fight and killed the Egyptian boy. He began carrying out his mission of being the saviour of the Isrealites at the wrong time (lack of patience)when God was not even ready for him to do so and as a result, the Isrealites remained in bondage for an extra thirty years while Moses was on exile in a harsh and hostile desert when he would have been in the palace and in comfort while he waits for the perfect timing of God to carry out his mission. The Isrealites were to be in Egypt for 400 years ( Genesis 15:13) but ended up staying 430 years in bondage and as slaves (Exodus 12: 40-41) due to the lack of patience from Moses in excising his faith.


Unlike Moses, Joseph understood what it meant to have faith and be patient enough to see that which you have your faith on to come to pass. Joseph had a dream where it was indicated that his family members would some day bow to him ( Genesis 37:9-11) and that he would rule the world someday  but he got into so many troubles and challenges the moment he revealed his dreams to his brothers who became uncomfortable with such a dream. He was sold into slavery by his brothers, sent to prison by Potiphar's wife after being accused wrongly and later was in the Place as a prime minister. Little did his brothers know that they were helping make his dream come to pass. The very effort they were using to destroy Joseph was the same effort unknown to them that they were using to fulfill his dream. In Egypt, Joseph was brought into Portiphar's home where he served Portiphar faithfully, yet the trials came again after he was accused falsely by Portiphar's wife of trying to rape her when in actual fact he refused giving in to her seductions and then thrown into prison yet in prison, he remained steadfast and faithful in service to the jailer and through the interpretation of dreams, Joseph was brought out of prison and made commander of Egypt (Genesis 41:40). His brothers who were scared of bowing down to him or being ruled by him eventually bowed down to him not recognizing him (Genesis 42:6).  In all the troubles Joseph faced, he remained steadfast, same, sane and calm. His character never changed from being good but rather developed and when it was the right time, God elevated and made his dream come to pass. He waited for the right time for his dream to be fulfilled unlike Moses who was in a rush to have his dreams fulfilled.


There is a perfect timing in everything God does, what you believe in might take a longer time but God knows what He is doing and at the right time, things will fall in place. Getting things done at the right time requires your patience which in turn boosts your faith in God. While you wait patiently in faith, God is working behind the scenes preparing the right people into your life, who would be of help to you and ordering your steps as well. What's that thing you are believing God for? is it a spouse? a dream job/career, business or that you have a calling/purpose in life you that you are to fulfill? Don't just have faith but have patience believing God will make all things beautiful in His time (Ecclesiastics 3:11). Faith without patience can lead to lots of troubles as Moses experienced being in a harsh condition in the desert for 40 years and for being a fugitive. While we wait, our attitude matters a lot. It is in waiting (patience) we show the stuff we are made off. In excising our faith and patience, we develop our being; build our spiritual muscles, strength and character.


Be patient and maintain a good attitude while you hold on to your faith.

Quote for the day - " Sometimes God shows His love to us not just by the blessings He bestows on us but by what He withholds from us". - Joel Osteen


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