| The toughest times in life are those moments
when all we know about God doesn't help us get results! That's
when we learn about His silence. Whenever God doesn't say a
word, He's: (a) teaching, even in the stillness (b) allowing
us to grow by forcing us to think, study, and arrive at conclusions,
while He stands by with a hushed smile and a watchful eye.
Faith comes by hearing. Patience comes by silence! Patience
is what God gives you when bad things remain unchanged. Its
His sedative for the troubled heart. Its the balm He rubs
into your aching muscles when you feel as if you're being
stretched to the breaking point. These are the times when
the pain lasts so long that only God can release the patience
required, the sheer grace to sustain you through it. The truth
is, patience is just strength harnessed, power focused, and
faith taking its time.
Listen: Keep your eyes on Jesus, Who both began and finished
this race were in. Study how He did it. Because He never lost
sight of where He was headed that exhilarating finish
in and with God He could put up with anything along
the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now He's there, in the
place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourself
flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by
item, that long litany of hostility He plowed through. That
will shoot adrenaline into your souls! (Hebrews 12:1-3 TM).
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