Living to Inspire

So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. Hebrews 10: 35,36 (NLT)

Lighting a fire in my enthusiasm, Bishop Goodpaster (as always) did an outstanding job in spiritually leading our past WNCC 2011 Annual Conference held at Lake Junaluska. Becoming re-united with fellow believers in Christ was a welcomed thing for me; it has been that way for a long time. I cherish the hope of renewing old acquaintances as the topic of conversation is about how good God is. For instance, brother George Eubanks, a member of Mt. Pleasant UMC Church, Stanley, NC (Gastonia District), responded to a simple question I asked him at breakfast on Friday morning, June 10th: “Hey, brother, what is the word for today? Can you share it with me!” “Yes, I can,” was his reply. “The word is patience!” Before we got into a deeper discussion on the subject, brother Coley Hooker, a member of St. Matthews UMC Church, Greensboro, NC (Greensboro District), joined us. Anyway as the three of us were filling our stomachs and having a great time witnessing to each other, brother Eubanks mentioned that patience is not only one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5: 22) but is a necessary “prayer-of-the-day innovator.” I liked that! Brother Hooker added, “That there can be no worthwhile (organizational or personal) agenda unless God-in-Christ is first invited – through prayer.”

As an afterthought, I discovered that patience is merely a state of endurance under difficult circumstances that can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without acting on annoyance/anger in a negative way. On the other hand, exhibiting forbearance when under strain; especially when faced with longer-term difficulties. I immediately had a flash back to my only surviving uncle, Robert Lee Jones, [who lives in Lake Charles, Louisiana] is still struggling through the recovery and rehabilitation stages after having had heart surgery nearly a month and a half ago. “Son (as my uncle calls me), keep praying for me…I’m not doing so good- but watch out, with God’s help, I’m going to beat this thing!” Living to inspire.

Hebrews 10: 35, 36 offers an encouragement to believers so that they can persevere in their Christian faith and conduct when facing persecution and pressure. We don’t usually think of suffering as a good thing for us, but it can build our character and our patience. During times of great stress, we may feel God’s presence more clearly and find help from Christians we never thought would care. Knowing that Jesus is with us in our suffering and that he will return one day to put an end to all pain, helps us grow in our faith and our relationship with him. Romans 5:3-5 summarizes it like this:

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. Selah