Patience is a virtue!
This 'impatient' prayer expressed the longing of the people of God to see the Lord's Saviour come down, and deal with the world. There is a kind of similar impatience felt today; whether in personal trouble, or contemplating the wider anguish in the world, we voice our impatience. Why doesn't somebody do something, the government, the United Nations, or even God? Why doesn't someone sort it all out, hand out judgment, and make life a little more pleasant for ordinary people?
These prayers often arise from a genuine longing for justice, for the vindication of good, for an end to suffering; we hear such cries in the Psalms, from Job as well as Isaiah, legitimate cries of longing. He said he would come soon, but 2000 years have gone by, and the 'scoffers' are out there saying, 'Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!' (2 Peter 3:3-4)
Patience is a virtue... and the Israelites waited 400 years in Egyptian slavery before the Lord led them out and made them his people; and Abraham waited into infertile old age for the son who had been promised to him. God was working his purposes out and they were required to be patient. But the waiting made the miracle, both the rescue and the son, more clearly the hand of God.
Patience is a virtue, a fruit of the Spirit. He will come back in glory to judge and every knee will bow before him. That hope makes patience possible, because we know that his purposes are being worked out in the delay; he is waiting in loving patience, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). And we know that he is patient with us as the Holy Spirit works to bring us to full maturity in Christ, for 'all things work together for the good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose' (Romans 8:28).
Where is your greatest need for patience today? Whether it's a child's Christmas stocking, or the man of your dreams, patience is a virtue...
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