PATIENCE

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

—Jas. 5:7

4264 Life’s Waiting Stages

Life is composed of waiting periods. The child must wait until he is old enough to have a bicycle, the young man until he is old enough to drive a car, the medical student must wait for his diploma, the husband for his promotion, the young couple for savings to buy a new home. The art of waiting is not learned at once.

—Howard Whitman

4265 A Little Kinder

Let me be a little kinder.

Let me be a little blinder

To the faults of those about me;

Let me praise a little more.

Let me be when I am weary

Just a little bit more cheery,

Let me serve a little better

Those that I am striving for.

Let me be a little braver

When temptation bids me waver;

Let me strive a little harder

To be all that I should be.

Let me be a little meeker

With the brother that is weaker,

Let me think more of my neighbor

And a little less of me.

Let me be a little sweeter,

Make my life a bit completer;

Keep me faithful to my duty

Every minute of the day.

Let me toil without complaining,

Not a humble task disdaining;

Let me face the summons calmly

When death beckons me away.

—Anonymous

4266 Tears In The Night

In Western Africa, it was fourteen years before one convert was received into the church. In East Africa, ten; in New Zealand, nine years before one baptism and two more years before one communicant; in Tahiti, it was sixteen years before the first harvest.

William Carey labored seven years before the first Hindu convert was baptized. In Burma, Judson toiled for seven years before he had one. Once writing England:

“Beg the churches to have patience. If a ship were here to carry me to any part of the world, I would not leave my field. Tell the brethren success is as certain as the promise of a faithful God can make it.”

4267 “Lone Star” Of India

In 1853 a denominational mission society discussed closing a station in Ongole, India, because only 10 converts had been won to Christ in 15 years. They made up the single church which someone called the “Lone Star” of India.

Samuel Smith, author of “My Country ’Tis of Thee,” was a member of the mission board. As he contemplated this matter, he was moved to write the following bit of verse: “Shine on, Lone Star, in grief and tears, and sad reverses oft baptized; shine on amid thy founder’s fears; lone stars in Heaven are not despised.”

The next day he read this poem to his colleagues, and they unanimously voted to continue the work. Because of this decision, God moved in mighty power. Thirty years later the Ongole church had grown to 15,000 members!

4268 The Chained Being

There is a modern painting by Shields which symbolizes the qualities of patience. A being with great strong wings is represented as standing with ankles chained to a sundial. She possesses powers of flight, but these she cannot use until God’s appointed time comes.

Meanwhile she waits, crowned with thorns, encircled with briers and brambles—briers which put forth fresh green shoots, which speak of increasing troubles. But she clasp to her breast the Word of God. She bears on her shoulders the yoke of Christ. Her lips are closed uncomplainingly; her eyes are looking forward to things afar. So she waits in faith, knowing that in God’s good time the call will come, the fetters be struck from her, and her wings given opportunity to soar.

—James Burns

4269 The Twentieth Time

John and Charles Wesley were blessed with a patient mother. At one time her husband said, “I marvel at your patience! You have told that child the same thing twenty times!” Susanna Wesley looked fondly at the child. She said, “Had I spoken the matter only nineteen times, I should have lost all my labor.”

—Choice Gleanings

4270 Epigram On Patience

•      A man is a hero, not because he is braver than anyone else, but because he is brave for ten minutes longer.

—Emerson

See also: Endurance ; Expectation, Spirit Of ; Perseverence ; Waiting ; Luke 21:19; Jas. 5:8; Rev. 13:10; 14:12.