Patience?!?!

Read Luke 8:4-16

There is something that few of us possess but all need. It is the thing that gets us through the darkest hours of our life, and it is the thing that keeps our feet on the ground when it would be easier to fly on cloud nine. It is something that one has by personality and it is something that one can learn through practice. It is something that God has a lot of and wishes to share it with us. When answers seem far away, bills are piling up, the tire on the car has gone flat, friends have turned their backs, the kitchen sink starts to leak, the diaper on the baby didn’t hold it all (if you know what I mean!!) and you just wonder where God is in the midst of all your calamity. Are you getting the picture? This is what you and I need more than anything else.
A new resident at a drug rehabilitation center was given the task of planting runner-bean seeds. With no experience growing vegetables, Jim quickly became bored waiting for the seeds to sprout. Have I lost you yet? Just relax. I’ll get to my point. After weeks of seeing nothing happen, Jim finally noticed signs of life coming up. Before long, he had to put poles in the ground for the beans to climb. One day Jim ran excitedly into the kitchen with some freshly picked beans for dinner. "Wow! All this from tiny seeds!" he exclaimed. "I've sure learned a lot!"
Are you getting the point yet? It was clear that Jim learned more than how plants grow. He gained a new insight: If we willingly listen to God in His Word and do what's right for the right reasons and for the right length of time, our lives will be fruitful. That’s the point. That is what we need more than just about everything else. It’s patience. I know, it is not something that we equate with grace and salvation and all the other wonderful things of God, but we really do need patience. Most people that have had an experience with God believe that He is able to “do exceedingly abundantly”, but our biggest problen is when He doesn’t do it right now.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if a farmer could plant a crop and the next day harvest that crop? It sure would send the prices down!! It is just impossible to do. Just like the farmer has to wait for the crop to mature, we must be willing to allow God to work in us and then reveal the answers to our needs in His time, not ours. After all, He is the master farmer and He more than anyone knows when the harvest of our lives is ready to bear fruit.
If your life is seemingly like the description I gave you in the paragraph above, just hold on, be patient for there is nothing that God starts that He does not finish. Thank God!!

“Patience and perseverance have a magical affect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.”
- John Quincy Adams