Necessity of patience - Open heavens devotional by Pastor E. A Adeboye

BIBLE IN A YEAR: Ps 4 -6
NECESSITY OF PATIENCE Wednesday, September 15, 2010
MEMORIZE: “Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts:  for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh” (James 5:8) READ: James 5:7-11 “Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy” (James 5:11). If you have chosen to follow the Lord, you must make up your mind to wait on Him to the end. Patience is a great virtue that every believer must have. Unfortunately, many are becoming so much in a hurry that they miss out from the blessings of this priceless virtue. Some people wait for a while but after that, become impatient. When you are impatient, you undo the beautiful foundation you laid during the times of waiting on the Lord. God’s promises will come to manifestation in the lives of the patient, not the impatient ones. Everyone who patiently waits on God has a good ending like Job. Joy will be their portion. Their testimony will prove God to be merciful. Are you patient with God? Impatience, which is a mark of fear and doubt, takes you out of God’s will into self-government like Abraham and Sarah’s connivance over Hagar.  Today, impatience is yet making some couples to enter into what Heaven had never planned for them. Learn to be patient! A man with an amputated leg once attended a seven-day crusade.  As he sat on the front row, the man of God walked up to him and asked him to go and get a new pair of shoes. He corrected the man of God that all he needed was one shoe, not a pair. But when the man of God told him to trust God, he decided to give it a shot. He returned the following day with a pair of shoes but nothing happened. He kept coming daily but nothing happened until the final day.  On arrival on the seventh day, as soon as he got a place to sit, the man of God said, ‘Let somebody shout Halleluyah!’. As the sound of Halleluyah reverberated, the man looked downwards only to find that the amputated leg had grown out to its normal size! Some people’s miracle may wait till the last day.  God may want your obedience to be complete before releasing your blessing. He may want to stretch your faith to the last point of elasticity before that trial of faith may end. Whatever the case, be resolved to hold on until your miracle comes. God has a reward for everyone who patiently waits on Him. You will not lose yours! ACTION POINT: Like Naaman, you may be required to dip for the seventh time before your change comes. Let your effort be  continuous until your change comes.