Tag Archive for patient endurance

Dangling Threads

2021-04-09 Devotional with Hymn, Magnificent God No comments

As for me, I trust in You, O Lord,
I say, “You are my God.”
(Psalm 31:14, NASB)

Father, I bring You all the dangling threads of my life.

I bring you that annoying little task that has me stuck.
I can’t move forward, and
I can’t walk away.

I bring you that matter where all I can do is wait.
I am totally dependent on someone else, and
they are in no hurry.

I bring you that huge project that I’m just beginning.
I feel swamped with unknowns and
in over my head.

I bring You that threat hanging over me
that seeks to steal my peace.

I bring you that unique idea, that deep desire
that has long weighed on my heart.
It keeps calling me,
pulling me.
It has never gone away after all these years.
Father, I believe You have planted it in me.
I believe You have set aside this task for me.
I’m convinced it would glorify You and
draw other people to You.
But every time I try to press ahead,
You seem to check me.
I feel nine-months pregnant,
but I can’t give birth.

And Father, I bring You that person
whom I love with all my heart.
They are so painfully, tragically incomplete.
O Lord, You know.

Father, I bring You all these dangling threads.
They keep my life unsettled.
They daily, hourly make me feel
ill-at-ease and
out of control.

Maybe that’s one reason You allow them to stay.
They keep me turning to You,
depending on You,
crying out to You.
You are the First and the Last,
the Source and the Goal.
You not only see the end from the beginning,
You are the ending.
All things are flowing from You and to You.
All things are complete in You.
At the perfect time and
in the perfect way,
You will beautifully finish everything You have begun.

I am a small-minded,
anxious,
time-bound creature,
at sea in a world beyond my understanding and control.
You are sovereign, wise, loving, and just.
You always do what is good and right.

Father, I will wait on You.

Who are we that we should ask God,
“Why are you doing this?”
It is the Lord—
that is enough.
Let him do what seems good to Him.
Let Him wound or heal,
bring pleasure or pain,
give life or death.
He is always the Lord.”
(paraphrased from Francois Fenelon)

Hymn: I Cannot See the Light, My Lord

I Rejoice in Your Purpose Today

2018-08-15 Hymns No comments

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I rejoice in Your purpose today
Though the end may feel so far away.
I find peace in the love on Your face
And rejoice in Your purpose today.

I remember that You are the Lord,
And I feast on each promise I’ve heard.
What a strength when I stand on Your Word
And remember that You are the Lord.

Though confusion and struggle are all I can see
And I wrestle alone with my pain,
Lord, I know You are working this all for the best,
And my suffering is never in vain.

I rejoice in Your purpose today
Though the end may feel so far away.
I find peace in the love on Your face
And rejoice in Your purpose today.

Unshakable Confidence

2018-07-12 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

A reflection on Revelation 6:1 – 11:14

As He faced crucifixion, Jesus shared with His disciples His joyful, unshakable confidence in the Father (John 13 – 16). Here in Revelation 6:1 – 11:14, He portrays the same confidence through a panoramic tapestry of judgment and salvation.

In Revelation 6 He rolls out the judgments of the first six seals. He climaxes the account with the sobering question, “The great day of the wrath of God and the Lamb has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:17, para.).

He answers that question in chapter 7 by giving us two visions of the Church during those dark days. Both the Church on earth (7:1-8) and the Church in heaven (7:9-17) are absolutely secure under the care and protection of Almighty God.

Revelation 8 – 9 resumes God’s awesome judgments, which are growing ever more intense.  He is calling unbelievers to repentance through afflictions that are increasingly severe. But where is the Church in that disintegrating world? Revelation 10:1 – 11:14 gives the answer: the Church is faithfully witnessing to God’s unchanging truth. We are joyfully glorifying Him, even in the darkest times and places.

Thus the broad canvas of Revelation lays out the same truth that Jesus spoke to His disciples as He faced death:

  • Even in the most severe persecution, we are absolutely secure in the Father.
  • Even the deepest sorrow cannot take away our joy and peace in Christ.
  • Eternal gain continues through all earthly loss.
  • “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, NASB).

 

Child of God, in life and death, sickness and sorrow, pain and persecution, you have nothing to fear. Not today. Not ever! Thanks be to God!

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Father, in This Suffering
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I Will Stay Faithful

2017-12-06 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Psalm 126

Father, because Your working is thorough,
it is often long-term.
Because it is long-term,
it often involves lots of waiting.
Because it involves lots of waiting,
it requires persistent faith.

Father, I trust You.
I will await
Your working in
Your time.
I will continue to be faithful in
what You have called me to do. 

Listen and sing:
Hymn: In Your Steps
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Patience and Persistence in Prayer

2017-06-28 Devotional with Hymn No comments

James 5

Father, You act in Your all-wise, all-loving time,
not on my anxious, self-centered schedule.
Help me to wait for You patiently,
as the farmer waits for rain (James 5:7-8).

Father, we consider the great saints to be greatly blessed of You.
They patiently endured suffering.
They remained faithful,
no matter how dark the days seemed.
Like them, help us to stay strong in faith (James 5:10-11). 

Father, as Your people,
help us to meet every situation with prayer:
suffering, with patient petition, relying on You;
joy, with thanksgiving and song;
sickness, with anointing and intercession;
sin, with confession to one another and forgiveness (James 5:13-18).

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Keep Us Strong in Faith
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Blessed by Problems

2016-08-30 Devotional with Hymn No comments

A small computer problem evolved into a massive computer problem. It dragged on for a week, absorbing much of my time and attention, before finally sending my faithful old computer to an unexpected grave. Then came the transition time as I waited on my new computer to arrive, then worked with my programmer-daughter to get set up and operational.

During this painful time when my routines were totally disrupted, the Lord taught me several valuable lessons.

Prayer

My work as a writer involves transitional times – brief periods when I decompress and prepare my mind to move from one task to another. Normally such transitional times are filled with diversions, like Facebook or computer games. They absorb my attention without taxing my mind, so I find them helpful. But without my computer, I turned my spare moments more often to prayer. Such “simple prayer” throughout the day helps me fellowship with God more naturally and constantly. God used my computer problems to draw me closer to Himself.

Thank You, Father. Continue to draw me and teach me.

Productivity

As a writer, I definitely missed my computer as a work tool. But the Lord kept me productive without it. He led me to write a hymn, Our God Came to Visit. Hymn-writing is less computer-dependent than other types of writing.

He also led me to do even more Bible study than usual. A meditative study of Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12 was particularly meaningful and refreshing.

God uses our human tools but is never dependent on them.

Patient Endurance

Patient endurance is one of the most precious but least sought Biblical virtues. When our discomfort absolutely MUST stop but doesn’t, we patiently endure. My computer situation exercised this valuable quality.

Father, You are good. You bless us in unexpected ways, even through our suffering.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Good Gifts
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Wait

2016-02-16 Devotional with Hymn No comments

God waits.
Because He gave us the freedom to choose,
because He patiently interweaves
our human choices with
His eternal purposes,
because He perfectly selects the right time to act,
God waits.

We wait on God
because He waits,
because He is all-wise and
we are not,
because He is all-loving and
we are not,
because He is sovereign and
we are unspeakably small.

We wait on God,
assured that He always does what is
exactly right at
exactly the right time.
Always.

Loving Father, we wait on You.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Thank You for Your Perfect Will
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Dangling Threads

2016-01-26 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Father, I bring You all the dangling threads of my life.

I bring you that annoying little task that has me stuck.
I can’t move forward, and
I can’t walk away.

I bring you that matter where all I can do is wait.
I am totally dependent on someone else, and
they are in no hurry.

I bring you that huge project that I’m just beginning.
I feel swamped with unknowns and
in over my head.

I bring You that threat hanging over me
that seeks to steal my peace.

I bring you that unique idea, that deep desire
that has long weighed on my heart.
It keeps calling me,
pulling me.
It has never gone away after all these years.
Father, I believe You have planted it in me.
I believe You have set aside this task for me.
I’m convinced it would glorify You and
draw other people to You.
But every time I try to press ahead,
You seem to check me.
I feel nine-months pregnant,
but I can’t give birth.

And Father, I bring You that person
whom I love with all my heart.
They are so painfully, tragically incomplete.
O Lord, You know.

Father, I bring You all these dangling threads.
They keep my life unsettled.
They daily, hourly make me feel
ill-at-ease and
out of control.

Maybe that’s one reason You allow them to stay.
They keep me turning to You,
depending on You,
crying out to You.
You are the First and the Last,
the Source and the Goal.
You not only see the end from the beginning,
You are the ending.
All things are flowing from You and to You.
All things are complete in You.
At the perfect time and
in the perfect way,
You will beautifully finish everything You have begun.

I am a small-minded,
anxious,
time-bound creature,
at sea in a world beyond my understanding and control.
You are sovereign, wise, loving, and just.
You always do what is good and right.

Father, I will wait on You.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Wait on the Lord
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

Long-term Obedience

2015-08-25 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Genesis 6 – 9

By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. (Hebrews 11:7, NASB)

Sin had become so extensive and intensive on earth that God regretted making the human race:

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on earth, and He was grieved in His heart. (Genesis 6:5-6, NASB)

But one man pleased Him. The righteousness of one man convinced Him that the human race was worth saving.

But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord…Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:8-9, NASB)

God spared no efforts in saving this one man and his family, and through him, our entire race. God directed and enabled Noah to build a huge boat: 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high, with three decks.

Based on the biblical record, scholars estimate that it took Moses 50 to 120 years to build the ark. Noah persevered for all those years based on a warning from an unseen God, and in response to a judgment that had not yet happened. Can you imagine the ridicule, the expense, the frustrations he endured? How many pleasures and practical matters would have been crying for all the attention he lavished on the ark!

But he obeyed, and continued to obey, while everything around him called his obedience foolish and meaningless. For him, faith in God was sufficient proof of things he could not see (Hebrews 11:1).

The result: Noah’s faith saved not only his entire family, but our entire race.

God inhabits timeless eternity. He is patient and so longsuffering. To please Him, we must learn to trust and obey as Noah did. We too may have to patiently persevere through years of seemingly fruitless effort, in the face of opposition and misunderstanding.

Father, in this prolonged trial,
keep me strong in faith.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: By Faith
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Nine Months Pregnant

2015-04-05 Devotional with Hymn One comment

“Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?” says the Lord.
(Isaiah 66:9, NIV)

I remember when my wife, Gloria, was pregnant with Jason, our first child. As we attended childbirth classes, she felt the insecurities that I’m sure most mothers-to-be share: Will I be able to do it? Will something go wrong? Even though I was only a coach and hand-holder, I too was apprehensive about the whole process.

I remember the teacher repeating to the class the same basic assurances over and over: childbirth is a natural function, and one way or another, the baby will be born. Unless you’ve been through it, that probably sounds laughable. But during the long months of waiting and wondering, we clung to those statements. And even when the day came, as Gloria’s intense pain gnawed relentlessly, and the hospital staff seemed so unhurried, we wondered if the delivery would ever really happen.

I’ve been through those times in my life. The relief that I desperately need, or the dream I cherish as deeply as life itself, doesn’t come for years…or decades. Most of us endure times when, in some important area, we feel nine months pregnant, with discomfort and pressure that won’t quit, but no relief in sight. We feel full term, but God is in no hurry.

During my “labor”, Isaiah 66:9 brings me assurance that helps me not only endure, but rejoice. I can testify that God never begins anything in our lives that He won’t finish – beautifully, completely, and perfectly. All that His love has conceived, He will deliver, and at the right time.

If you’re feeling nine months pregnant, learn to rest in Him more constantly and completely. He is drawing you to Himself. Even as you wait, He is working all things for your good and for the blessing of those around you.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Wait on the Lord
Recording
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