I Kéna building under construction! May this day find you in joy! My prayer is that GOD will surprise you!
Patience is a precious quality. A single moment of patience can save great losses and unnecessary fighting. A brief moment of impatience can destroy a lifetime and bring nations to war.
Patience is the attitude of not getting worked up or discouraged, in the face of difficulties, unexpected events, failures, and mistakes. To be patient is to wait with the right attitude and sentiments, and be internally at peace. To be patient is to wait with faith. It means obeying while waiting for GOD's promises to be fulfilled, despite trials and persecutions.
Being patient means taking time to do things right or better. Being patient doesn't mean running away from your responsibilities, or imposing them on others. For example, if a project is too big to be accomplished in one go, patience will associate with intelligence to translate it into sub-projects that can be carried out one after the other. If the project seems impossible or risky, patience will combine with prayer to ask GOD's advice (discernment) and ability. Patience is intentional, it has a purpose.
Do you remember the article When praying, let's not multiply empty words? In that article, I wrote that GOD looks at intention before action. If the intention is not good, the action will be rejected. The same applies to patience and procrastination. What is patience for you may be, or appear to be, procrastination for your neighbor. What is patience for you today, may turn out to be procrastination tomorrow, if you are in a new season of your life or in disobedience (lack of faith) of what GOD is asking you to do. It's really important to understand this.
Otherwise, you could fall into the trap of comparison, pride or guilt. When the devil fails to make you envy or jealous of what others are doing, he tries to make you feel guilty for not doing as others do or for not doing as others have done. People sometimes tend to project their aspirations and experiences onto others. In front of them, listen to your inner testimony. Ask GOD to search your heart and speak to you. Don't be a copy without revelation and conviction of what others do, say, and are. Unquestionably, I would rather be behind with GOD than ahead without him.
In the New Testament, the word translated as patience is Makrothumia ( Strong n°3115, Greek), also translated as longanimity, perseverance, gentleness. In Bible dictionaries, Makrothumia is defined as:
Patience, endurance, constancy, perseverance
Indulgence, long-suffering,
Slowness to retaliate, self-control of one who does not hastily retaliate against a wrongdoing.
Waiting long enough before expressing anger, in the sense of avoiding the premature use of force (retribution) that results from inappropriate anger (a personal reaction).
Patience is a fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22). Patience is a mark of love (1 Corinthians 13:4, 2 Thessalonians 3:5). Patience is a proof of wisdom (Proverbs 14:29). Patience is a proof of faith (Psalms 18:15, James 5:7-8).
Gratitude, the rhema word and testimony are powerful weapons against impatience. It's easier to be patient when you remember GOD's faithfulness, what he has done in the past. It's hard to be impatient when you remember GOD's faithfulness. It will be difficult for the devil and the demons to lead us on to impatience, if we have a rhema word. Patience is firm when it has a purpose or a rhema word. It's easier to wait patiently when we know why it's taking so long. One of the reasons why many people fail to give up sexual sins is because they are impatient. You can't solve a problem by dealing only with the symptoms: you must treat the source.
🙂 Below are a few verses I encourage you to meditate on. May they inspire your attitudes, your words, your thoughts, and your prayers. The aim is to draw from them, through the assistance of the HOLY SPIRIT, a rhema word and answers to some of your questions.
2 Thessalonians 3:5, James 5: 7-8, Romans 12:9-13, 2 Peter 1:3-9, Ecclesiastes 3:1-11,
Galatians 5:22, 1 Corinthians 13:4, Psalms 37: 5-6, Psalms 37:10-11, Colossians 3:12,
Psalms 103:8, Revelation 3:10 -11, Luke 14:28, Ecclesiastes 10:16-17, Proverbs 14:29,
Isaiah 30:15, Proverbs 21:5.
❖ "Now may the LORD direct your hearts into the love of GOD and into the patience of CHRIST." (2 Thessalonians 3:5, NKJV)
❖ " Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the LORD. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the LORD is at hand." (James 5: 7-8, NKJV)
❖ " Let love be unfeigned; abhorring evil; cleaving to good: as to brotherly love, kindly affectioned towards one another: as to honour, each taking the lead in paying it to the other: as to diligent zealousness, not slothful; in spirit fervent; serving the Lord. As regards hope, rejoicing: as regards tribulation, enduring: as regards prayer, persevering: distributing to the necessities of the saints; given to hospitality." (Romans 12:9-13, Darby Bible translation)
❖ " 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of GOD and of JESUS our LORD, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our LORD JESUS CHRIST. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. " (2 Peter 1:3-9, NKJV)
❖ "To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven..." (Ecclésiaste 3:1-11, KJV).
❖ "But the HOLY SPIRIT produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." (Galatians 5:22, NKJV)
❖" Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. (1 Corinthians 13:4, NLT)
❖ "So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith." (Galatians 6 : 9-10, Darby)
❖ "Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday." (Psalm 37: 5-6, NKJV)
❖ "For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, But it shall be no more. But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." (Psalms 37:10-11, NKJV)
❖ "Therefore, as GOD’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." (Colossians 3:12, NKJV)
❖ " The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love." (Psalm 103:8, NIV)
❖ " Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown." ( Revelation 3:10 -11, NIV)
❖ "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it." (Luc 14:28, NKJV)
❖ " Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, And your princes feast in the morning! Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobles, And your princes feast at the proper time— For strength and not for drunkenness!" (Ecclesiastes 10 : 16-17, NKJV).
❖ " He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, But he who is impulsive exalts folly." (Proverbs 14:29, 15:18).
❖ " For thus says the LORD GOD, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” But you would not." (Isaiah 30:15, NKJV)
❖ " The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, But those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty. " (Proverbs 21:5, NKJV)
** I kéna = Good morning in Sousou (Guinea)