Patient in Trouble
How patient are you with life’s difficulties?
Verse of the Day
“Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.”
Today’s Devotional
What’s on your to-do list today? No, seriously, what is on your list? I would be embarrassed to show you my list. It is long and there are many items on my list that have been there for a couple of weeks (or longer). Now, thinking about your list, I challenge you to go read all of Romans 12.
Paul is giving the Roman church some to-do items for how to live as a Christ-follower. I’d say it was like “Christianity Kindergarten”, except it’s not that easy. I counted 20 directives in that one chapter of Romans, and I know I missed some. But let’s focus on the one that speaks to our current focus.
Be patient during times of trouble.
I don’t know about you, but when something in my life qualifies as “trouble”, I want it fixed or removed immediately. Some translations tells us to be patient in affliction. Affliction is described as “a state of pain, distress, or grief.” Personally, I can relate to “trouble” more than I can to “affliction”.
Think about something in your life today that would meet the above description of affliction or trouble. I know what mine is immediately. Now think about how patient you currently are with that situation. I’m not feeling very patient at all. I really want it to be resolved. Now would be good.
If I use today’s verse as a guide for how to be patient in times of trouble, then perhaps the other two directives in the verse would be useful. Be joyful in hope. Be faithful in prayer.
I can choose to have joy in my times of trouble because if I look back, God has always worked things out. Maybe not in the way I would have chosen, but according to His will (which is always better than what I would have chosen). I can have hope that God is working in my life today, which might help me to be more patient with any current troubles.
I can choose to be faithful in prayer. God wants my heart, so continuing to talk to Him about my struggles gives God access to my heart. As I choose to pray about anything and everything, I am constantly reminded of God’s sovereignty and control, which is exactly what my heart needs to remember. And in prayer, God continually reminds me of His love for me, which makes any trouble I’m facing seem less troublesome somehow.
If I don’t choose to be joyful in hope or faithful in prayer, I am likely not going to be patient with any troubles. I am going to fret and worry, my mind will be anxious, and I will not be an effective carrier of God’s healing message.
Much of our faith journey, whether in the midst of affliction or not, is choosing to take God at His Word and following the directions He gives us. He tells us how to handle life, but so many of those instructions are counter-intuitive and all of them are counter-cultural. Just because God’s instruction don’t make sense doesn’t make them any less true or effective. If I want to be a person of patience, I need to be willing to follow the instructions that are given about how to have patience. For today, those instructions are to choose joy, hope, and prayer – to actively practice what God’s Word is telling me to do.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
Write down your current afflictions and trouble in a prayer to God. Share them with Him, because He cares about what is troubling you.
How can you choose to be joyful today about the hope that God will move in your life? A good start would be to write a list of things you are grateful for.
How can you be faithful in prayer today? Could you journal your prayers? Could you pray aloud? Could you share your prayer needs with a trusted friend? Choose one way to be faithful in prayer today.