“Knowing this, that the
trying of your faith worketh patience.
But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and
entire, wanting nothing.” – James 1: 3-4
God’s perfect work of patience in our lives is not merely an
effort to help us avoid getting angry at a red light or fussing at someone
going five under in the left lane of the interstate. This is a shallow view of patience. The perfect work of patience is to bring us
to a state of wanting nothing; as a moth to the flame and bait to a fish, so
lust is the devil’s tool to ensnare the Christian. Herein we find the need for patience to have
her perfect work.
The plain fact is that trials and temptations happen to us
all. Whether rich or poor, young or old,
Jew or Gentile, sanctified or sinner, we will encounter tough times in this
life. We as human have at least two
natural instincts in hard times, fight or flight; and both can be detrimental
to our spiritual lives. If you are of
the “fight” mentality then you are of the sort who believes that he or she can
“power through” so to speak. I don’t
need anything or anybody I can beat this on my own. The scriptures show us that this attitude
will overrun the will of God and you will find yourself in a place of
want. Contrast that with the “flight”
reaction; running from the issue and often running to something that will offer
immediate gratification. A flight to a
temporary solution for a consistent problem.
Oftentimes these reactions are intertwined in the same person. Choosing flight for one situation and fight
for another, but whether flight or fight or anywhere in between, if you are not
in the will of God and waiting on His plan to unfold then you open yourself up
to sin and death. Say for example you
get job, work hard, and everyone around you receives a promotion but you;
however you deserved it the most. So you
begin to fight and take matters into your own hands telling yourself “this is
the way it should be.” Then the devil
swoops in and says “Yes, yes, and you need to do this and that to make it that
way.” You agree and pursue those things,
until little by little you are drawn away from God’s perfect plan for your life
that would have unfolded given a little patience. Perhaps you are heart broken and lonely,
months go by and you begin to say “God, when will this ever end? Can have a little relief? I deserve it!” The devil sneaks in and whispers “yes, yes,
you do and you can find you entitled relief right over here.” You listen and yield only to find the relief
he offered has made your situation worse.
You drifted away from God’s perfect plan that would have come to light
with but a little patience. “Let
patience have her perfect work.”
The trying of our faith demands that we have patience, and it
demands that we trust God. Do you
believe that God has a plan for your life?
Do you believe His plan is best for you?
When we let patience have her perfect work and wait on the Lord to
perform His plan, this will shield us from the temptation of “want” and
reinforce to us the need for belief in God.
That promotion doesn’t come and you say “Lord I don’t understand, but
you do, and maybe you kept it from me because my heart couldn’t handle the
money.” So you labor on, then by and by
you find out that the promotion would have taken you away from a church that
needed you. The heart break doesn’t heal
and the loneliness remains and you say “Lord I don’t understand, but you do, I
am trusting you to deliver me from this when you choose.” Then by and by you realize that the pain was
to remind you that “His strength is made perfect in weakness” and to teach you
a lesson you could one day help counsel others to learn. The bottom line is that patience will keep
you in the will of God regardless, and when you’re in his will, you will lack
nothing, and if you lack nothing than you want nothing, and if you want
nothing……..the devil has nothing to draw you away from his will; and you
continue to stay in his Will letting patience have her perfect work making you
perfect and entirely His. Is there a
better existence on this earth?
