Faith and Patience
In what areas do you need to be diligent?
Verse of the Day
“We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”
Today’s Devotional
What’s the opposite of diligence? Clearly, it’s laziness. This is something I really struggle with. I could win a medal if laziness were a competition. But I love how this verse is unfolding in my heart as I have studied it. Instead of the word “lazy”, some other translations use words like “spiritually dull”, “indifferent” and “sluggish”. The context here is that in our spiritual maturity, and in our efforts to radically love, there will be discouragement. In the face of this discouragement, we are called to not give up, to choose faith and patience.
God knows that we will become discouraged. And tired. And feel like our efforts are producing no fruit. So we are told to look at those who have gone before us. Hebrews goes on to give the example of Abraham, who had faith in God’s promise to give him descendants, and then patience as he waited for the promise to be fulfilled. This is the kind of faith and patience we are told to imitate. I love that the Bible holds Abraham up as an example, even though he was far from perfect in his patience.
So my big question for God today is, “How do I discern how to summon faith and patience in the midst of discouragement – when all I want to do is give in to laziness, sluggishness, and indifference?”
I must choose diligence. I must build my faith by reminding myself of God’s promises. I must remember as I read and study the Word what God said in Isaiah 55:11. “It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” God’s Word will always produce fruit and accomplish what God intends. God is faithful to me, I must be faithful to him. I must learn to trust and have patience even when I’m discouraged.
I feel like there is a “sticky spot” that needs to be discussed. Think about when you are stretching your body. There’s that one spot that hurts, and the temptation is to pull back and stop. To not push past that sticky spot. But in order to relieve the tension, I need to stretch past that point of discomfort, and I need to do this gently. In a different example of the same concept, think of when anyone is trying to lose weight….it takes time to see results. After a month of exercise and healthy eating, often the results are not yet outwardly visible. There is this frustration to give up. To go back to when things were easy (except when putting on pants). To go back to living without diligence. But we know from experience that we have to push past the sticky spots to get to the desired results. I think this is what this verse might be saying.
I am currently living in the middle of a sticky spot. I feel that God invited me to participate in some things, knowing that I would feel uncertain. He knew that I would feel overwhelmed and tired. He knew that I would want to stop, because it all feels like too much. God knew that I would need to reorder my priorities, given what all he has invited me to do. God knew that some things needed to be removed from my life, maybe for just this season and maybe for longer. But here’s where my faith comes in. God is teaching me every single day as I write about his Word. God is growing my desire for Him. God is changing my heart a little bit at a time. So today, I choose diligence even when I just want a nap. I choose to keep accepting God’s invitations, because it is growing my faith. Because, just like today’s verse teaches, our faith and patience will lead us to an inheritance promised by God.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
In what areas are you currently discouraged?
Where have you experienced a sticky spot, either now or in the past?
Where do you need a greater measure of faith and patience? How can you bring those needs before the Lord today?
In what spiritual disciplines are you lazy?
How can you imitate others who have great faith and patience? (Who are those people? Do they need your encouragement today?)