But if we hope for that we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
Romans 8:25 NIV
Patience
For Canadian Para judo athlete Priscilla Gagne, winning a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics was about more than taking home a piece of fancy hardware. In an interview, she said “To me, it’s such a symbol of hope or faith to just persevere and endure. You want it for yourself and you also want it for the people who’ve invested so much time and energy and emotion. To be able to give it to yourself and to them, you can’t ask for more.”
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Do you remember as a child how long it seemed to take for Christmas to come? The days leading up to that holiday seemed to pass so slowly. But without fail, that day arrived – Christmas always came. Hopefully, that taught us a lesson about patience and taught us a Biblical principle that good things do come to followers of Jesus who wait. Paul the apostle taught that lesson in Romans 8:25: “But if we hope for that we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” There is much about the Christian life that we have not yet experienced. Our salvation is not yet complete. We wish it was – but it won’t be until Jesus returns. No wonder the Bible teaches that patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. God gives us the grace to bear up under all that comes our way as we keep our eyes on Jesus. The day is coming when our salvation will be complete, as Jesus returns or calls us home. Until then, let us patiently and consistently walk with Jesus, empowered by Him, loving Him, serving Him – as we wait for that which we do not yet have – but will soon enough.
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley