We Need Patience!
Basilea Schlink teaches that God, as a loving Heavenly Father, uses patience through suffering to ultimately bring His children into a time of grace and joy.
In this devotional sermon, Basilea Schlink explores the profound truth of God’s fatherly love and patience. She encourages believers to experience God not just as a distant deity but as a compassionate Heavenly Father who comforts and restores. Using the example of Job and biblical promises, Schlink assures listeners that suffering is temporary and leads to a greater joy and grace. This message offers hope and encouragement to those facing trials.
Full Transcript
God lives and works today. Perhaps we know in our minds that God is a Father, but do we actually know Him as our Father? There's a big difference. Think how a loving, earthly father would react if his child were hurt or troubled.
Have we experienced the same kind of love and comfort from our Heavenly Father? Do we experience His fatherly care even in the small matters of daily life? If not, today's program by Baselius Schlink can help us. In it, we will learn how we can truly experience God as our loving Father. A sister was suffering because of a problem.
She wept a lot, and therefore I went to comfort her one day. I told her that after this time of testing, a special time of grace and happiness would come. At these words, she looked at me astonished and asked how I knew such a thing, and if I were absolutely sure.
Are you also suffering? Have you too wept a lot recently? Then the same words apply to you that I told to the sister, and they will be fulfilled in your life just as they were in hers. How do I know that such a time of grace and happiness will follow suffering? Why am I so positive? When I open the Bible, I find it confirmed in many places, and I personally have never experienced the Heavenly Father in any other way. God sympathizes fully with us in every problem.
For the words which we read in the book of James and which are associated with Job's life are equally true for us today. The Lord is compassionate and merciful. James 5 verse 11 Job had lost everything and was utterly miserable.
But because the Lord God is a father, Job's suffering touched his heart, and he could do nothing other than provide an escape for him. Yes, God prepared an end for his suffering, which brought him inexpressible wealth and happiness. The Bible records that the Lord restored the fortunes of Job and gave him twice as much as he had before.
Because God is a father, he never sends us only suffering. The end cannot be suffering, but rather inexpressible joy. For as a father, he cannot rest until his children are happy.
Do you think that God will react differently towards us than he did with Job? He's the same from eternity to eternity, today too, his heart is only love. The End If you do not have access to the web, please write to God Lives and Works Today, 9849 North 40th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85028-4099 God bless you.
Sermon Outline
-
I. Knowing God as Father
- Difference between intellectual knowledge and experiential knowing
- God's fatherly care in daily life
- The comfort of a loving earthly father as a model
-
II. The Reality of Suffering
- Suffering as a test and time of weeping
- Personal example of comforting a sister in distress
- God's compassion in every problem
-
III. The Promise of Grace and Joy
- Biblical assurance from James and Job
- God's restoration and doubling of blessings
- God’s unchanging love and ultimate purpose for happiness
Key Quotes
“God sympathizes fully with us in every problem.” — Basilea Schlink
“Because God is a father, he never sends us only suffering. The end cannot be suffering, but rather inexpressible joy.” — Basilea Schlink
“The Lord is compassionate and merciful.” — Basilea Schlink
Application Points
- Trust God’s fatherly love even in times of suffering.
- Look for God’s comfort in daily life and small matters.
- Hold on to the promise that joy and restoration follow hardship.