Patience is the quality that does not surrender to circumstances; it is the opposite of despondency and is associated with hope.
PATIENCE (Gk hupomone) = “The steady endurance of irritating or painful situations.”
It is patience that refuses to give in to the drizzle of complaining or outbursts of anger over situations or circumstances beyond our control.
Gk, Makrothumia is patience in respect to persons while hupomone, endurance, is putting up with things or circumstances.
“There is a deep peace that grows out of illness and loneliness and a sense of failure. God cannot get close when everything is delightful. He seems to need these darker hours, these empty-hearted hours, to mean the most to people”
Patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is the pureness of the Spirit operating in us through that which we bear up under in the Name of Jesus Christ that gives us this unique vision.
This great truth is given to us in the declaration of Job at the end of his story. It is demonstrated for us by Stephen at the end of his life. Acts 7:
55 But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God 56 and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."
What Stephen saw was not only for him, but for us. Keep gazing in the direction of the Lord—keep your eyes fixed on the prize—while you patiently endure intensely difficult circumstances or the cruel treatment of people and you will eventually see God with a clarity of vision that you had never experienced before.
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