Patience is a Virtue

This is an excerpt from a sermonette that I recently preached at Abundant Life Community Church, in Pflugerville, Texas. Pastor DeChard Freeman is the Lead Pastor, and I am a part of the ministry staff.  I pray that it blesses someone.

It has been said that patience is a virtue.  Well what does that mean?  The dictionary uses words like   “moral excellence”     to describe virtue.  So, basically, it is a good thing.  But aren’t we the most impatient people?  Thanks to the internet and modern technology, our patience, has gotten shorter.  It seems like the entire world has Attention Deficit Disorder.  If we have to wait for more than a few seconds for a website to download, we say we have a slow connection.  Or how about if someone takes more than 5 minutes to respond to a text.  Well we act the same way with the Lord.  When we pray, we expect an immediate response.  In Matthew 7:7, the Word says Ask and you shall receive.  But it doesn’t say when.

In verse 10 of Chapter 29, Jeremiah said “This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.”   Well how about if the Lord came to you today and said, Sister so and so I promise to heal your body 70 years from now, or Brother So and so, I promise to get you a job 70 years from now.  Well we would not be too happy about that.  But church, the truth is we cannot rush the Lord.  As the saying goes, He may not come when we want Him to, but He is always on time.

But why be patient?  Because you trust in the Lord.  You know that despite your current situation, it is going to be alright.  Why do you know this?  Because He’s done it before.