“MATURITY AND PATIENT ENDURANCE” DAY OF THE LORD MAY 12, 2023

ROMANS 5:3

3. Moreover- let us also be full of joy now! Let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.

DEFINITIONS

Patient -d) enduring pain or trouble with composure without complaining.

Endurance -d) the ability to stand pain, distress, fatigue, etc. fortitude.

The scripture is saying that we must endure sufferings, pressure and hardship to acquire patient endurance. The trial of our faith is so very important and is so very easy to walk around it. So many trials can be aborted by a phone call.

I have done without a phone for many years. And because of it when things break down, I must wait on the Lord to make something happen to get them fixed. So many blessings have come my way because I did not call and get different things fixed right away but waited.

One time the toilet sprung a leak on the bottom. I could only use a dish so high to catch the water before it would spill over. I had to get up every 40 minutes to empty it. It took about 1-2 weeks to get it fixed. I had to get up many times at night also to empty the dish. I felt so sorry for myself. I just could not believe this was happening.

But then in the middle of my self-pity I stopped and realized how good I felt. Before that I had a lot of stiffness in my back and legs that was just gone. I believed the Lord was showing me the answer to my stiffness was exercise. So, from then on, I started exercising all through my day and still do.

The Lord is so good and willing to show us some of the answers to our problems are really simple. At the same time, He wants us to learn how to wait upon Him and allow Him to take care of us. How many would never go through what I did with the leaky toilet? And how many go to doctors and get needless medical care?

I have had to wait on many other things to have fixed. I could write a list of blessings I have received from them. Plus, it seems that once I go through it, I never have to go through that problem again. He blesses me in ways I could never have thought up on my own. I have learned to lean on Him which is the best thing there is! His ways are truly the best!

Romans 5:4 And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character – that is, approved faith and tried integrity. And character of this sort produces the habit of joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation.

🎵 SONGS – NO ONE EVER CARED FOR ME LIKE JESUS – THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT THAT NAME – EVER TIME I SAY YES TO YOU – PHIL DRISCOLL