Faith and PatienceSample

Benefits of Patience

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

- James 1:2-4 NKJV

Everything that God tells us to do is for our benefit. This statement is a truth that we need to settle in our hearts and our minds. Everything that He tells us to do leads to victory if we stick with it. 

The testing of our faith, and allowing patience to work in our life, have their benefits. God isn’t trying to teach us a lesson; He is trying to help us grow! He wants us to be “perfect and complete, lacking nothing!”

Perfect Work—Choosing the Right Actions

Just because we are aging doesn’t mean we are maturing. No matter how old we get, we will need to exercise patience. We are always a work in progress. There is always room to grow, improve, and mature. However, this requires patience. We must allow patience to take us where we need to go. Sometimes the action that we need to take is no action at all. Waiting on God is an action!

Perfect and Complete, Lacking Nothing 

It is possible to be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. This doesn’t mean that you won’t make a mistake, but you can always come to God and let him help you correct any mistakes you make. As we do that, we strengthen ourselves to be who God is calling us to be.

When it comes to lacking nothing, most people tend to think of material things. We sometimes focus so much on what we don’t have that we forget what we do have. Just because someone else has something that you want or like doesn’t mean that you lack it. You don’t lack it, just because someone else has it.

Lacking in this verse means “to lag, be inferior.” When I understand that I realize that every person who is more mature than me has had a season when they had to exercise their patience to get to where they are now. You won’t grow beyond your ability to allow patience to work. When you allow patience to work, you won’t lag or be inferior to the things that you are facing. 

Patience has such a bad rap because it doesn’t feel good. We don’t like to wait for something that we know we can have eventually. However, there are some things that you will NOT get UNLESS you exercise patience. 

Let patience work in your life! You won’t lag or be inferior … you will be whole, and you will have everything you need. 

Confession Today

Today, I will allow patience to have its perfect work in me. I can be complete in Christ. Whenever I make a mistake, I can go back to Him for help. I can choose the right actions and trust God to handle everything out of my control. I will have seasons of exercising patience and those seasons are helping me grow to become who God has called me to be.