+ Patience and faith:
There is a strong relationship between faith and patience. Without faith it is hard to be patient. For patience is waiting, expecting, and hoping for something that we trust will happen. If there was no faith in the prophecies about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to save the world, we wouldn’t have seen generation after generation waiting for Christ the Redeemer. And when we saw the wisemen coming from the east, Thousands of miles away, looking for the born Christ the king of the Jews to offer him their presents according to the dprophecies that they had inherited, believed in, and patiently waited for to be fulfilled. And when we see old Simeon going into the temple after a long wait to carry the newborn God asking Him to be release from the prison of the flesh, according to the prophecy” Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word” ( Luke 2:29). And if it was not for Abraham’s faith in God’s Covenant along with his wife Sarah, they wouldn’t have been able to patiently wait for 25 years for God’s promise to be fulfilled with the birth of Isaac from whom descended the Lord Christ blessing all the nations on earth” By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised”. (Hebrews 11:11). Also it is because of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ our God, Savior and Redeemer that we have trusted in his help and his victory over Satan, death and the world, enabling us to have patience and to endure pain, persecution and death that’s follow us every day” For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”( Romans 8:36). My beloved if we do not have enough patience or tolerance, worrying about making decisions, then know for sure that we are in deep need of testing our faith” knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience”. (James 1:3). We should also wait patiently without inner or outer growl, so that our work is not affected negatively” But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing”. (James 1:4). And let us remember Job after all the tribulations and catastrophes that had hit him, he had never stopped blessing the Lord and glorifying his name” Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there.The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord, In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong”. (Job 1:20-22). My beloved brethren, it is our faith in the Lord, his love, Holiness and wisdom that makes us wait for him” Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass”. (Psalm 37:7), ” Therefore I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me”. (Micah 7:7). Faith builds patience, bringing heavenly fruit in our hearts that are prepared for the word of God” But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience”. (Luke 8:15).
+ The patience of Christ and the saints:
When we hear about the patience of Christ we immediately remember his unlimited Godly love to us, we the sinners and how for our salvation He was incarnate and was like us in everything except for sin?! And how He endured satan’s temptations since birth, for his mother did not find a place for Him to be born except for a manger. Then Satan Scared King Herod, making him attempt to murder the child Jesus, leading them to flee to Egypt. What makes us more astound Is although He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, He had no place to rest His head. We read in Saint Paul” For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”. (2 Corinthians 5:12). And we heard Him in the midst of His suffering and pain crying to the Father, saying” Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”(Luke 22:42). Behind all this is Divine love, Unlimited and unconditional. Saint Paul summarizes this patience saying” Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ”. (2 Thessalonians 3:5). He continues in his message to the Hebrews saying” looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”. (Hebrews 12:2). And from here we understand the patience of the saints.” And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death”. (Revelation 12:11). He also says” Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth”. (Hebrews 11:35-38). Then the book of Revelation points at the end of time, and the persecution of the children of God, whom will endure with faith” Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus”. (Revelation 14:12). ” Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed”. (Revelation 6:11). Lastly beloved, listen to the word of the Lord telling us” But he who endures to the end shall be saved”. (Matthew 24:13).