Field Of Dreams: Delay– Impatience

Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, 'Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.'

Exodus 32:1 (NKJV)

But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the Word with a noble and good heart, keep It and bear fruit with patience.

Luke 8:15 (NKJV)

Imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Hebrews 6:12 (NKJV)

Impatience is a harmful irritant, like walking with a pebble in your shoe. It slows your progress, until it’s removed (or coated by the strength of a callous).

Actors, models, and talent for Christ: As communicators and messengers, God’s ‘Footgear of peace’ must be worn daily. If impatience starts to poke at your soul, the power of thanksgiving covers it.

Grievously, the children of Israel got poked by impatience… repeatedly. In a walk known by gripes and looking back, their short trip became a 40-year test.

Legendary preacher, Charles Spurgeon, said:*

'I wish, brothers and sisters, that we could all imitate 'the pearl oyster.' A hurtful particle intrudes itself into its shell, and this vexes and grieves it. It cannot reject the evil, but what does it do but 'cover' it with a precious substance extracted out of its own life, by which it turns the intruder into a pearl! Oh, that we could do so with the provocations we receive from our fellow Christians, so that 'pearls' of patience, gentleness, and forgiveness might be bred within us, by that which otherwise would have harmed us.'

Therein, PATIENCE IS A PEARL that covers get-it-NOW, change-it-NOW irritation.

To receive this lustrous transformation, reach high toward the fruit of the Spirit. Then chew and swallow God’s peace and patience.

  • In this process, grumblers become gleamers and our trials become testimonies,

  • Soon enough, waiting rooms become stages, where we reflect THE Pearl of greatest price.

Re-read these quotes from: 

  1. A U.S. founding father: 'He that can have patience can have what he will' (Benjamin Franklin).

  2. A famous Russian author: 'The strongest of all warriors are these two: Time and Patience' (Leo Tolstoy in War and Peace).**

  3. James, the brother of Jesus: 'But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing' (James 1:4).

Field Of Dreams: Delays– Impatience (Part 13).

* http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/1617.htm

** The Conversion of Leo Tolstoy: http://www.creationism.org/csshs/v09n2p27.htm

NOTE: This is a 2023 update of a 2013 Carey Lewis Devotion. You may see notes to 'Actors, Models & Talent for Christ.' If you think you're not in show business, think again. Shakespeare said, 'All the world's a stage and all its men and women merely players. Mostly true. But you're not merely players. You are messengers and ambassadors for the King of kings.

Carey Arban