I have a lot more time on my hands to spend with the Lord right now because of my recent surgery. I'm just resting a lot. So I wanted to make sure that I make use of that extra time I have with Him...and actually use that time to be with Him.
So, yesterday, I read chapter 1 of Colossians. I had to read it three times, because clarity is hard to come by when you are taking pain meds. Anyways...after the third time through, verse 11 jumped out. It says,
May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy...
Patience...with joy?? I am strengthened...with God's strength...for patience WITH JOY. Well, obviously, this HAS to be with God's strength, because my strength does not support joyful patience. In this passage, Paul is telling Christians in Colosse that he is praying for them to receive this strength from the Lord. Yeah, Paul knows we do not naturally jump to the emotion of joy when waiting.
I know that in God's dictionary, joy does not mean happiness necessarily. The worldly definition, or Websters, says that joy is a feeling of great pleasure and happiness. But, the bible says "the joy of the Lord is your strength" Nehemiah 8:10. In other words, our joy is based on God's feeling of great pleasure and happiness. We find strength in what He joys over. I see God's definition of joy like this...a parent tells her child, "I have a surprise for you!" The child sees the joy on the parent's face. They see mom's excitement over handing over a gift to the child they love. Though the child has no idea what they are about to receive, they trust in the parent's love and adopt the same feeling of elation and excitement as they wait to be handed their gift. Going back to Colossians 1:11 then means that God strengthens us with all power by His joy. Then, we are strengthened to endure and be patient with His joy because our joy and strength is His joy and strength. He knows what He is about to do and finds pleasure in giving us good gifts. We seek His face and adopt that same joy as we wait to receive it. Does that make sense?
So, then I decided to study what the bible says about patience and waiting on the Lord. I wanted to look for reasons to trust that "patience with joy" is better than patience with tongue out, lips poked, arms crossed, foot tapping, eye rolling, etc.
I googled "scriptures on patience" and the first verses I got were actually a non-example of patience with joy. 1 Samuel 13:8-14 (ESV):
He [Saul] waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. So Saul said, "Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings." And he offered the burnt offering. As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. Samuel said, "What have you done?" And Saul said, "When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, I said, 'Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the Lord.' So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering." And Samuel said to Saul, "You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you."
First. let me explain what Saul messed up on...two things. He did wait the appropriate seven days as instructed, but after that Samuel, the priest, was to preside over the offerings. So, problem number one was that Saul did the offerings instead of Samuel. Problem number two was that Saul was a king, not a priest. It was not his God-ordained job to preside over the offerings. Only priests were to offer sacrifices.
So, at first, it seems like Saul was going to make it! He waited seven days, right? But if you read the passage prior to verse 8, you would see that Saul was feeling some pressure. He was nervous going into battle...already struggling with trusting God in his circumstance. He had people looking to him to see what the next course of action would be. But as the people became antsy or bored..whatever it was they were feeling, they began to disperse. Saul goes into panic mode. He believes his army is leaving him and that he will not be successful in an attack by the Philistines. So, Saul takes matters into his own hands. Saul never had patience with joy. He had patience with a plan B.
How often do we do that? We say "oh, I'm going to pray over this for a week and if I haven't heard anything then I will just do xyz." Or we say, "I know God wants this job done, so I'll just do it" even if we never received a call from the Lord to do someone else's job. We try to force God's hand of favor and blessings. But He doesn't joy in that. So...there is no joy in that. There is more anxiety. More unknowing. More second guessing. And in Saul's case more fear.
What if Saul had been that giddy child waiting to see what God had in store for him? Focusing on God's face, bursting with joy over what was about to happen, instead of focusing on the circumstances around him?
God used this for good, of course, and brought David in as prince...a man after His own heart. But what could God have done with mighty Saul? Now, he (and we) will never know. His reign as king was shortened, because of his impatience.
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