Nov 5 Devotion: "Ye Have Need Of"

Romans 5:3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

1Timothy 6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

James 1:2-4

2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Hebrews 10:36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

         I know that you have heard it said, “Don’t pray for patience. It only comes by tribulation.” But I find something here in the Scriptures that gives a contrary viewpoint. God says, we “have need of patience”. If he says we need something, then it is a good and necessary thing. The fact that it comes through tribulation does not negate our need for it and since it comes by tribulation (the trying of our faith), then this is God’s means of producing patience in us. Because it comes through difficulty does not change our need for it.

         Without patience, we get ahead of God. We make our own decisions. We set aside God’s way to choose our own way. We abandon the Scriptures to formulate a plan of action that is void of biblical insight and discernment. Without patience, we do not walk with God. We pick our own pace. Without patience our opinion becomes supreme and rules our lives. The leadership of the Holy Ghost is substituted with our impatience.

         Hebrews 10:36 tells a different story than, “don’t pray for patience”. It tells us that we don’t do the will of God without patience. We need to allow that truth to get in our hearts as it pushes through our stubbornness. Patience is a necessity if we are to serve God properly. We grow through difficulty if we allow the Lord to do his “perfect work” in us. It is okay to trust God. He knows what he is doing, he knows how to do it, and he knows what we have need of. So, “count it all joy”, when God is working in you because we need patience.

Philippians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

In Christ’s Service,

Bro. Adrian Moore

2 Cor. 4:5