BECAUSE PATIENCE IS MORE THAN ENDURANCE

One of my favorite daily devotional's is by OSWALD CHAMBERS.
I found his book on a sale table at a book store a few years ago and brought it home. I didn't know anything about him, just his name. Little did I know that this little book would change me from the inside out.

There are many favorite "days" in the book that I highlight with read often. One of my favorite's is May 8, THE PATIENCE OF FAITH. The writing of the day (cira 1900) was strong and direct about everything related to our person relationship with the Lord. This day is no different.

May 8 ~ Patience is more than endurance. A saint's life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, and He stretches and strains, and every now and again the saint says - "I cannot stand any more." God does not heed, He goes on stretching till His purpose is in sight, then He lets it fly. Trust yourself in God's hands. For what have you need of patience just now? Maintain your relationship to Jesus Christ by the patience of faith. "Though He slay me, yet will I wait for Him."

I am the "saint" that he is quoting in that paragraph! LOL This past 18 months has really tested my endurance AND faith. Eddie on disability, running through ALL our savings and retirement (I guess that one is looking good in todays economy), then no money for 8 weeks, finally unemployment and the shock of what they ended up giving us to live on, and now still no job start date on the horizon after being told he "got the job". You can say that my faith has taken a BIG ride.

I love the part where Oswald says that "He goes on stretching till His purpose is in sight". Man, I hope His purpose is in sight soon! LOL

Faith and the endurance it takes to keep on that path was easy until November when we lost the disibility benefits. Well, maybe easy in comparison to now. It was tight, but we were doing ok. The REAL walk of faith has been since that time until now.

"God has ventured all in Jesus Christ to save us, now He wants us to venture our all in abandoned confidence in Him." Mmmmm, what an order, help me to go through with it because some days are harder than others. Some days I throw myself into my kids, house, work and other days I sleep a lot. Either way, I am focusing on what I believe will be the exciting conclusion to my story! I have been down plenty of time before and God has ALWAYS kept his promises. I know he will now too. It is just hard some days to keep that in the front line of my thinking. Maybe that is what faith is????? Not the fear of how will I feed my kids, not the frustration of today being just like yesterday, but knowing that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and tommorrow and so are his promises. I just have to keep my head in the middle, between the beginning and the end, no promise goes unkept. So I focus on the promises so that I don't fail in my faith.

Yesterday at the grocery store of all places, I picked up a new book. A little pocket book called The NLT Bible Promise Book. Just in the nick of time!

Patience ~ The Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God's promises to be fulfilled. Romans 15:4

Thank you Lord for NEVER leaving me or forsaking me even when I deserve it.