Patience in Christian preaching is the steadfast endurance through trials and spiritual growth, reflecting God’s refining work in believers (Romans 5:3-4). Illustrations often use natural growth processes or enduring hardship, emphasizing perseverance and trusting God’s timing (James 1:3-4).
Patience helps restore relationships and promotes lasting peace.
"My dear boy," said a father, "take a word of advice from an old man who loves peace. An insult is like mud; it will brush off much better when it is dry. Wait a little till you both are cool; then the broken relationship will be easily mended. If you go now, it will be only to quarrel." That is good advice for you and for me-patience will induce peace.
God uses troubles to answer prayers for patience by providing opportunities to practice it.
A certain lady prayed a great deal for patience. She complained to another Christian that while she prayed for patience, all she seemed to get was trouble. "The Lord is sending you trouble in order to produce patience in you," was the reply. How many times have you prayed for patience, and the Lord sent along your way a child that was naughty, a boss who was demanding, a husband or wife who was exasperating to live with? It was all an answer to your prayer for patience so that you may have the opportunity to exercise and practice it. Accept it from the hand of God, for that is part of your training.
Impatience for earthly pleasures leads to dissatisfaction; true joy comes from patient holiness.
"Ungodly men are too impatient to wait for solid and eternal pleasures, but snatch at the pleasures of sin, which are but for a season. These resemble children who cannot tarry till the grapes are ripe, and therefore eat them sour and green." Pleasure lies mainly in hope, and yet some men will not give space for hope to grow in: it must be now or never; all to-day, and to-morrow may starve. In business, men put out their money, foregoing its use themselves, that it may, after a while, return to them with increase; but carnal men are all for keeping the bird in the hand, and cannot wait for joys to come. Yet these hasty delights are not satisfying. Man was not
made to find his heaven upon earth, nor can he do so, even though he labours after it. The grapes plucked in this untimely season cause ere long a griping of the heart, and a gnawing within the soul. We are not ready for fulness of joy, nor is the joy ready for us. Our wisdom is to be preparing for eternal bliss by present holiness, believing that he who is making us ready for heaven is making heaven ready for us. This is the surest way to present satisfaction, which must always be found in careful obedience to the divine will from day to day, and in a believing expectation of glory to be revealed. O thou who art "the God of hope," grant that, by thy hope which thou hast wrought in us, we may be daily purified, and set free from the defilement of this present evil world.
Like a crow raising water with pebbles, persistent prayer brings blessings closer over time.
A crow, ready to die with thirst, flew to a pitcher which it saw at a distance. But, when he came to it, he found the waters so low, that, with all his stooping and straining, he was unable to taste a drop. Thereupon he tried to break the pitcher; then to overturn it; but his strength was not sufficient to do either. At last, seeing some small pebbles at hand, he dropped a good many of them, one by one, into the pitcher, and so raised the water to the brim, and quenched his thirst. So may it be with our prayers. Every pebble we cast in, to adapt the figure, may bring the water of life nearer to our thirsting lips. The Lord may desire us first to feel the cravings of desire and want; he may lead us to patient continuance in the use of means: but every effort brings the blessing nearer, until, in time, the thirsting soul is fully satisfied, and the needed measure of our prayers is full.
— Bowes
Life's cares shape and refine us like a sword forged by a skilled artificer.
The cares and infelicities of life, which are spoken of as "hinderances to grace," may be hinderances; but they are the only helps it has in this world. The voice of provocation is the voice of God calling us to the practice of patience. A man in old age is like a sword in a shop-window. Men that look upon the perfect blade do not imagine the process by which it was completed. Man is a sword. Daily life is the work-hop, and God is the artificer, and those cares which beat upon the anvil, and file the edge, and eat in, acid-like, the inscription upon his hilt, — these are the very things that fashion the man. Beecher.
Patience in teaching is essential; persistence secures learning despite initial slowness.
John Wesley's home-education, under the tutelage of his parents themselves, was peculiar, and well calculated to initiate him early in habits of order and perseverance in accomplishing any object he might undertake. "Why, my dear," said his father to his mother, while patiently teaching one of their children a simple lesson, which it was slow to learn, — "why, my dear, do you tell that dull boy the same thing twenty times over?" — "Because," replied the mother, "nineteen times won't do. If I tell him but nineteen times, all my labor is lost; but the twentieth secures the object."
Impatience hinders finding what one seeks and invites greater burdens over time.
One seldom finds that which he seeks, when he searches for it with impatience. — Asiatic. — If you let them lay the calf on your back, it will not be long before they clap on the cow.
— Italian
A sharp rebuke from impatience can cause lasting shame and regret.
At Laleham, Dr. Arnold once got out of patience, and spoke sharply to a dull pupil; when the boy looked up in his face, and said, "Why do you speak angrily, sir? Indeed, I am doing the best I can." Years after, he used to tell the story to his children, and said, "I never felt so ashamed of myself in my life. That look and that speech I have never forgotten."
Losing patience is like losing control of one's soul, harming self and others.
Whosoever is out of patience is out of possession of his soul. Men must not turn bees, and "kill themselves in stinging others." Lord Bacon.
God patiently develops us over time like a leaf unfolding through seasons.
O impatient ones! Did the leaves say nothing to you as they murmured when you came hither to-day? They were not created this spring, but months ago; and the summer, just begun, will fashion others for another year. At the bottom of every leaf-stem is a cradle, and in it is an infant germ; and the winds will rock it, and the birds will sing to it all summer long; and next season it will unfold. So God is working for you, and carrying forward to the perfect development all the processes of your lives.
— Beecher
Patience involves enduring trials with prayer and trust, not giving up.
Patience is but lying to, and riding out the gale. — Beecher. — Pray and stay are two blessed monsyllables. — Donne. — Never think that God's delays are God's denials. Hold on; hold fast; hold out. Patience is genius. — Buffon. — Patience is power. With time and patience, the mulberry-leaf becomes satin. — Eastern Proverb.
Patience cultivates humility, peace, forgiveness, and strength in believers.
Patience is the guardian of faith, the preserver of peace, the cherisher of love, the teacher of humility. Patience governs the flesh, strengthens the spirit, sweetens the temper, stifles anger, extinguishes envy, subdues pride: she bridles the tongue, restrains the hand, tramples upon temptations, endures persecutions, consummates martyrdom. Patience produces unity in the church, loyalty in the state, harmony in families and societies: she comforts the poor, and moderates the rich; she makes us humble in prosperity, cheerful in adversity, unmoved by calumny and reproach; she teaches us to forgive those who have injured us, and to be the first in asking forgiveness of those whom we have injured; she delights the faithful, and invites the unbelieving; she adorns the woman and approves the man; she is beautiful in either sex and every age. Behold her appearance and her attire! Her countenance in calm and serene as the face of heaven unspotted by the shadow of a cloud; and no wrinkle of grief or anger is seen in her forehead. Her eyes are as the eyes of doves for meekness, and on her eyebrows sit cheerfulness and joy. Her mouth is lovely in silence; her complexion and color that of innocence and security; while, like the virgin, the daughter of Sion, she shakes her head at the adversary despising, and laughing him to scorn. She is clothed in the robes of the martyrs, and in her hand she holds a sceptre in the form of a cross. She rides not in the whirlwind and stormy tempest of passion, but her throne is the humble and contrite heart, and her kingdom is the kingdom of peace. Bp. Horne.
God's patience preserves His creation despite sin's destructive impact.
Suppose a man should come into a curious artificer's shop, and there, with one blow, dash in pieces such a piece of art as had cost many years' study and pains in the contriving thereof, how could he bear with it, how would he take on to see the workmanship of his hands so rashly, so wit # PATIENCE.
fully destroyed! He could not but take it ill, and be much troubled thereat. Thus it is, that, as soon as God had set up and perfected the frame of the world, sin gave a subtle shake to all, it unpinned the frame, and had like to have pulled all in pieces again: nay, had it not been for the promise of Christ, all this goodly frame had been reduced to its primitive nothing again. Oh the omnipotent patience of God! Spencer.
Enduring suffering faithfully is like choosing coals over roses.
One of the nobles of Guatimozin being laid upon a bed of burning coals, with his sovereign, complained greatly of his suffering; when Guatimozin said, "Do you think that I lie upon roses?"
Patience steadies the soul through life's storms, preventing spiritual shipwreck.
Patience is the ballast of the soul, that will keep it from rolling and tumbling in the greatest storms; and he that will venture out without this to make him sail even and steady will certainly make shipwreck and drown himself, first in the caves and sorrows of this world, and then in perdition. Hopkins.
Patience is a universal remedy that helps overcome adversity and hardship.
Patience is a plaster for all sores. The longest day will have an end. When one door shuts, another opens. It is a sore battle from which none escape. — English. — Patience, time, and money overcome every thing. The world is this who has patience. — Italian. — He who does not tire tires adversity. All comes right to him who can wait. — French. — A stout heart breaks ill luck. If I have lost the rings, there are the fingers still. — Spanish. — The remedy for hard times is to have patience.
Impatience is a difficult struggle even greater than other vices for some believers.
I have not so great a struggle with my vices, great and numerous as they are, as I have with my impatience. My efforts are not absolutely useless; yet I have never been able to conquer this ferocious wild beast. Calvin.
Patience in troubles helps believers endure and transform suffering into joy.
As the tree which Moses cast into the spring seasoned the bitterness of the waters, so patience, cast into our troubles, seasoneth the bitterness of the cross, and is as it were, instead of an assistant unto every man, to overthrow and overcome his troubles, like the armor-bearer which helped Jonathan to vanquish his enemies. She hath a desire to draw such a skin over our sores that shall make our poverty seem riches, our reproaches seem honors, our bondage seem liberty, our labor seem rest, our sorrow seem joy, our pain seem ease, our sickness seem health, and all that hurt us rejoice us, until we say with David, "Thy judgments are pleasant;" showing that God's justice is as pleasant to the patient as his mercies to others. H. Smith.
Patience is a precious, hidden jewel that brings glory and eternal reward.
"I compare patience to the most precious thing that the earth produces,—a jewel. Pressed by sand and rocks, it reposes in the dark lap of the earth. Though no ray of light comes near it, it is radiant with imperishable beauty. Its brightness remains even in the deep night; but, when liberated from the dark prison, it forms, united to gold, the distinguishing mark and ornament of glory, the ring, the sceptre, and the crown," said the wise Hillel. "Her end and reward is the crown of life." Krummacher.
Lack of patience leaves one vulnerable to pain and trials like a soldier without armor.
He who wanteth patience in this world is like a man who standeth trembling in the field without his armor, because every one can strike him, and he can strike none: so the least push of pain, or loss or disgrace, doth trouble that man more which hath not the skill to suffer than twenty trials can move him which is armed with patience, like a golden shield in his hand, to break the stroke of every cross, and save the heart though the body suffer; for, while the heart is whole, all is well. H. Smith.
Patience protects believers from being moved by insults or spiritual attacks.
As the ship that is well made, and sufficiently trimmed, neither the mighty winds, raging waves, nor stormy tempests do make it leak; or as the palm-tree, which, though mightily laden never bendeth; or as our Saviour Christ was whipped, mocked, and crowned with thorns, yea, and crucified too, and yet prayed for his enemies: even so, if we are once armed with this corslet of proof (I mean patience), not only words and injuries, which are lent the points of the thorns, should not pierce us to be angry, but also the sharp arrows of Satan, his lances and pikes, should never be able to touch or move us to the quick. Cawdray.
Socrates' calmness under his wife's scolding shows godly patience and self-control.
Xantippe, wife of Socrates, was a woman of furious temper. At one time, having vented all the reproaches upon him that her fury could suggest, he went out and sat before the door. His calm and unconcerned behavior irritated her so much the more; and, in the excess of her rage, she ran up stairs, and emptied a vessel upon his head; at which he only laughed, and said that so much thunder must needs produce a shower. Aleibiades, his friend, talking with him about his wife, told him he wondered how he could bear such an everlasting scold in the same house with him. He replied, "I have so accustomed myself to expect it, that it now offends me no more than the noise of carriages in the streets."
Patience in sickness is active obedience to God's daily specific calling, even to rest.
A minister, visiting a once active Christian, said, "I little expected to see you so patient: it must be a great trial to one of your active mind to lie here so long doing nothing." — "Not at all, sir; not at all," said she. "When I was well, I used to hear the Lord say to me day by day, 'Betty, go here; Betty, go there; Betty, do this; Betty, do that;' and I used to do it as well as I could: and now I hear him say every day, 'Betty, lie still and cough.'"
Wilberforce maintained patience and joy despite agitation and noise from children.
A friend once found Wilberforce in the greatest agitation, looking for a despatch he had mislaid, for which one of the royal family was waiting. At the moment, as if to make it still more trying to his temper; a disturbance was heard in the nursery overhead. "Now," thought the friend, "surely for once his temper will give way." The thought had hardly passed through his mind, when Wilberforce turned to him, and said, "What a blessing it is to bear those dear children! Only think what a relief, among other hurries, to bear their voices, and to know they are well."
Patience with unfruitful things can lead to abundant fruit in due time.
THREATENING, Benefit of Rosenmüller quotes from an Arabian writer the following receipt for curing a palm-tree of barrenness, — "Thou must take a hatchet, and go to the tree with a friend, unto whom thou sayest, 'I will cut down this tree; for it is unfruitful.' He answers, 'Do not so: this year it will certainly bear fruit.' But the other says, 'It must needs be; it must be hewn down,' and gives the stem of the tree three blows with the back of the hatchet. But the other restrains him, crying, 'Nay, do it not! thou wilt certainly have fruit from it this year: only have patience with it, and be not over-hasty in cutting it down. If it still refuses to bear fruit, then cut it down.' Then will the tree that year be certainly fruitful, and bear abundantly."
— Trench
Proverbs teach patience and hope that troubles will pass and improve with time.
Let your trouble tarry till its own day comes. The darkest hour is that before the dawn. When things come to the worst, they'll mend. — English. — When the tale of bricks is doubled, Moses comes. — Hebrew. — He is miserable once who feels it, but twice who fears it before it comes. — Oriental.
Alexander values one tear from his mother above many complaints from others.
Olympias, the mother of Alexander, was of so very unhappy and morose a disposition, that he could not employ her in any of the affairs of government. She, however, narrowly inspected the conduct of others, and made many complaints to her son, which he always bore with patience. Antipater, Alexander's deputy in Europe, once wrote a long letter to him, complaining of her conduct; to whom Alexander returned this answer: "Knowest thou not that one tear of my mother's will blot out a thousand such letters?"
Eretrius learned to endure a parent's anger patiently without complaint.
A youth named Eretrius was for a considerable time a follower of Zeno. On his return home, his father asked him what he had learned? The boy replied, that would hereafter appear. On this, the father being enraged, beat his son; who bearing it patiently, and without complaining, said, "This have I learned—to endure a parent's anger." # 312. PAT
Mr. Welch peacefully united violent factions through prayer, example, and patience.
MAKER.— When Mr. Welch accepted of the call to Ayr, he found the wickedness of the people, and their hatred to religion so great, that no one would let him a house, till Mr. John Stewart, an eminent Christian, and some time provost of Ayr, accommodated him with an apartment in his house, and became his lasting friend. Mr. Welch first addressed himself to the arduous task of healing their divisions, uniting their factious parties, and putting an end to their daily battles, which were so desperate, that no one could walk in the street even in the day-time, without the most imminent danger of being wounded. His method was this: after he had put a helmet on his head, he would go between the parties of fighting men, already covered with blood; but he never took a sword, which convinced them that he came not to fight, but to make peace. When he had brought them, by little and little, to hear him speak, and to listen to his arguments against such inhuman proceedings, he would order a table to be spread in the street, and, beginning with prayer, persuade them to profess themselves friends, and to sit down, and to eat and drink together; which, when done, he would finish this labor of love with singing a psalm. Thus, by degrees, laboring among them in word and doctrine, for he preached every day, and setting them a good example, he brought them to be a peaceable and happy people; and he grew, at length, in such esteem among them, that they made him their counsellor, to settle all their differences and misunderstandings, and would take no step of importance in civil affairs without his advice.
Newton's calm response to his dog's mistake illustrates self-control and patience in adversity.
Sir Isaac Newton's temper, it is said, was so equal and mild, that no accident could disturb it. A remarkable instance of which is related as follows:—
Sir Isaac had a favorite little dog, which he called Diamond. Being one evening called out of his study into the next room, Diamond was left behind. When Sir Isaac returned, having been absent but a few minutes, he had the mortification to find that Diamond had overturned a lighted candle among some papers, the nearly finished labor of many years, which were soon in flames, and almost consumed to ashes. This loss, from Newton's advanced age, was irreparable; but, without at all punishing the dog, he exclaimed, "O, Diamond, Diamond! you little know the mischief you have done!"
Henderson's calm reply after insult shows self-control and maintaining composure under provocation.
Of Mr. John Henderson, it is observed, that the oldest of his friends never beheld him otherwise than calm and collected; it was a state of mind he retained under all circumstances. During his residence at Oxford, a student of a neighboring college, proud of his logical acquirements, was solicitous of a private disputation with the renowned Henderson; some mutual friends introduced him, and, having chosen his subject, they conversed for some time with equal candor and moderation; but Henderson's antagonist, perceiving his confutation inevitable, (forgetting the character of a gentleman, and with a resentment engendered by his former arrogance,) threw a full glass of wine in his face. Henderson, without altering his features or changing his position, gently wiped his face, and then coolly replied, "This, sir, is a digression; now for the argument."
Socrates' calmness amid insults exemplifies self-control and patience in difficult circumstances.
CONTROL OF SOCRATES.—Socrates finding himself in great emotion against a slave, said, "I would beat you if I were not angry." Having received a box on the ear, he contented himself by only saying with a smile, "It is a pity we do not know when to put on a helmet." Socrates meeting a gentleman of rank in the streets, saluted him, but the gentleman took no notice of it. His friends in company observing what passed, told the philosopher "they were so exasperated at the man's incivility, that they had a good mind to resent it." But he very calmly made answer, "If
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Waiting on God's timing brings greater results than hastening by questionable means.
David resorts to no questionable means to hasten his own advancement but waits God's time and way, and with greater results in the end
Patience in suffering mirrors God's long-suffering and perfect timing in all things.
It is said that the astronomer whose genius discovered the laws which govern the movements of the planets, saw his great labors despised. Reduced to extreme misery, he was on his deathbed, when a friend asked him if he did not suffer in dying thus without seeing his discoveries appreciated. “My friend,” replied Kepler, “God waited five thousand years for one of His creatures to discover the laws which He has given to the stars, and cannot I wait also until justice is done me?”
Spiritual understanding takes time; no one has yet fully fathomed God's Word.
Suppose I should send my little boy, five years old, to school tomorrow morning, and when he came home in the afternoon, say to him:
“Willie, can you read? can you write? can you spell? Do you understand all about algebra, geometry, Hebrew, Latin and Greek?”
“Why, papa,” the little fellow would say, “how funny you talk. I have been all day trying to learn the A, B, C’s!”
Suppose I should reply: “If you have not finished your education, you need not go any more.” What would you say? Why, you would say I had gone mad!
There would be just as much reason in that as in the way that people talk about the Bible. The men who have studied the Bible for fifty years have never got down to the depths of it yet. There are truths there that the church of God has been searching out for the last nineteen hundred years, but no man has yet fathomed the depths of the ever-living stream.
Some things can wait, but opportunities like violets must be seized quickly.
O sister mine--hold on a space In your dreadnaught campaign; A few weeks more--the selfsame place Will show more dust again; Just take a sniff of springtime air And let the cleaning wait; For, “Dust will keep, but violets won’t,” As some find out too late.
--ADA M. FITTS, _Unity_.
Spiritual fruitfulness requires patience through trials and growth from brokenness.
These lines are by Edward Rowland Sill:
Clear water on smooth rock Could give no foothold for a single flower, Or slenderest shaft of grain: The stone must crumble under storm and rain, The forests crash beneath the whirlwind’s power, And broken boughs from any a tempest-shock, And fallen leaves from many a wintry hour, Must mingle in the mold, Before the harvest whitens on the plain, Bearing a hundredfold. Patience, O weary heart! Let all thy sparkling hours depart, And all thy hopes be withered with the frost, And every effort tempest-tossed-- So when all life’s green leaves Are fallen, and moldered underneath the sod, Thou shalt not go too lightly to thy God, But heavy with full sheaves. (Text.)
A man commits suicide just before receiving news of a fortune, showing the cost of impatience.
Victor Hugo pictures a man who is so maddened by failure and misfortune that he resolves on suicide. He is at the end of his resources, and he capitulates to death. No sooner has he committed suicide than the postman drops a letter in at his door which contains the information that a distant relative has left him a large fortune. If he had waited but one hour longer! For want of patience he lost all!
Napoleon's failure at Waterloo is attributed to his lack of patience for defensive strategy.
* * * * *
Sergeant Cotton in his book “A Voice from Waterloo,” tells us what Wellington thought Napoleon ought to have done:
Napoleon never had so fine an army as at Waterloo. He was certainly wrong in attacking at all. He might have played again the same defensive game in the French territory which he had played so admirably the year before; that campaign of 1814 I consider the very finest he ever made. He might have given us great trouble and had many chances in his favor. But the fact is he never in his life had patience for a defensive war.
Reformers err by impatience, but faith adds patience to God's timing for redemption.
The besetting sin of the reformer is his impatience. The world must be redeemed at once. “The trouble seems to be,” said Theodore Parker of the anti-slavery cause, “that God is not in a hurry, and I am.” “If my scheme is not sufficient to redeem society,” said a labor leader not long ago, “what is yours?” as tho every self-respecting man must have some panacea of social salvation. The fact is, however, that a time like ours, whose symptoms are so complex and serious, is no time for social panaceas. As one of the most observant of American students of society has remarked: “When I hear a man bring forward a solution of the social question, I move to adjourn.” Jesus proposes no surgical operation which at one stroke can save the world. He offers no assurance that the tares of the world shall be exterminated by one sweep of the scythe. He adds faith to patience.--FRANCIS GREENWOOD PEABODY, “Proceedings of the Religious Education Association,” 1904.
Waiting patiently for God’s timing brings the fulfillment of His perfect purposes.
Edward Collins Downing bids us to wait through earth’s night for the coming day of God’s accomplishments:
To those who sit and watch at night And look to God alone for strength, There will arise, I know, at length, A foregleam of eternal light.
The morning does not hesitate; The glory of its hour is fixt, Tho sorrow has been strangely mixt In all our lives, there is no fate
That can retard the coming day. Be patient. In His perfect time God’s purpose will unfold, sublime, And light and joy shall have their way.(Text.)
A boy endured pain by imagining a bee sting, showing patience through faith and imagination.
* * * * *
Lady Henry Somerset has told how her attention was first called to the work of relieving the sufferings of poor city children.
“I was moved in that direction by the rare patience and imagination of one little boy. His example convinced me that patience was one of the qualities I needed most, and in seeking it I grew into that work. I was in a hospital on visiting day while the doctors were changing a plaster-cast which held the crippled boy’s limb. The operation was exceedingly painful, I was told. To my surprize the little sufferer neither stirred nor winced, but made a curious buzzing sound with his mouth. After the doctors left him, I said:
“‘How could you possibly stand it?’
“‘That’s nothin’,’ he answered; ‘why, I just made believe that a bee was stingin’ me. Bees don’t hurt very much, you know. And I kept buzzin’ because I was afraid I’d forget about its being a bee if I didn’t.’”
Patience is the prime quality needed for mastery and effective leadership.
* * * * *
When the quality most needed in a prime minister, who should be fully master of the situation, was the subject of conversation in the presence of Mr. Pitt, one of the speakers said it was eloquence, another said it was knowledge, a third said it was toil. “No,” said Pitt, “it is patience.” And patience is undoubtedly a prime quality of mastery in any situation.
— JAMES T. FIELDS
General Grant responded to provocation with patience and self-restraint, not anger.
* * * * *
When you read this to your uncle he may say, “If General Grant had been provoked as I often am, I think he would have sworn.” Just tell uncle this story and ask him if General Grant did not have some reason now and then to have a provoke:
“After he had served the nation as its President, General Grant was in New York when the Masonic Temple was burned. The fireline was drawn half way down the block, but the great, surging crowds hampered the work. A policeman stationed below failed to recognize the ex-President as he approached the line, and quickly grabbing him by the collar, he swung him around in the other direction, yelling at him as he gave him a whack with his club: ‘Here, what’s the matter with you? Don’t you see the fireline? Chase yourself out of here, and be quick about it.’”
The general did not swear, but just got out of the crowd and began to attend to his own business. Swearing would have been a great waste of time.
— J. M. FARRAR
A snail’s slow pace illustrates extreme slowness compared to a boy’s quickness.
“A snail’s pace,” hitherto a remarkably indefinite phrase, has at last been exactly defined, thanks to the experimental philosophers of the Terre Haute Polytechnic. After putting half a dozen of them through their paces, and making all necessary differentiations, it was ascertained that a snail can travel exactly a mile in fourteen days. Hence, it will be seen that it is about nip and tuck between the snail and the boy when you send the latter to a grocery past a vacant lot where the other boys are engaged in a game of baseball.--Cincinnati _Enquirer_.
Sometimes spiritual progress requires patient waiting rather than constant motion.
Life is not always by motion; sometimes it is improved by waiting. The boat in the lock stands still in order to be lifted higher.
Patience over time can turn apparent losses into unexpected blessings.
Ten years ago Henry Brink, of Melrose, purchased a few thousand shares of stock in an Arizona gold-mine. In return for several hundred dollars he received a great bundle of beautiful green certificates handsomely engraved.
After waiting in vain for the mine to become productive, and finally deciding that as an investor he was as green as his certificates, Brink smiled over his loss and papered his room with the souvenirs of his folly. As a mural decoration the stock was worth par.
Now he has been informed that porcelain clay of rare quality has been discovered on the mine site and that his certificates in consequence were worth a fortune.--Boston _Journal_.
Patient waiting often achieves more than forceful effort in difficult situations.
We often accomplish more by patient waiting than by direct effort.
There was a very balky horse in town which nobody could drive. A kind gentleman undertook to drive him through the White Mountains. His owner laughed, and said: “You can not drive out of town, much less through the mountains.” He said quietly, “I think I will manage him,” and he did, in this way. He filled the carriage-box with books, and when the horse balked he quietly flung the reins on the hook, took out a book and began to read, and waited patiently until the horse saw fit to start. This he did two or three times, and the horse was cured.
A great Christian statesman of a former day set us a beautiful example of the right kind of compromise. William Wilberforce was elected to the House of Commons in 1785. As an evangelical, he was unutterably opposed to slavery of any kind. For over 20 years he remained the parliamentary leader of the antislavery movement. He became convinced that the first step for which he could get support was the elimination of the slave trade. Many of his evangelical friends repudiated him because he settled for this half-way measure: He compromised. But in 1807, enough legislators agreed to join forces with him so as to abolish the slave trade throughout the British Empire. Through slavery continued, Wilberforce continued to work, bit by bit and with persistence and patience, to lead his nation to the abolition of slavery in any form.
He never lived to see the victory. One month after his death in 1833, Parliament finally abolished slavery throughout the entire British Empire. Had Wilberforce set his mind on the "quick fix" or had he not been willing to compromise in his battle against slavery, he would never have accomplished his goal or brought the blessings of human freedom to society. Evangelicals in the twentieth century could learn from his example.
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Series on James. Patience in James:
1. Be patient - The Lord will right all wrongs.
2. Be patient - The Lord's coming draws near.
3. Be patient - Leave all judgment to the Lord.
4. Be patient - Follow the prophets' examples. Simeon, Stephen, Job, Jesus
5. Be patient - Swear not at all.
Conclusion: Patience comes from God (Rom 15:5). Verse 4 mentions the patience that comes from reading the Bible.
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