Christianity Oasis Forum

[Netchaplain]

“Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had (Jhn 5:2-4).

How well have we learned to wait on God in the good and the hardness? We can conclude that there will always be times of lulling, times of not knowing what to think, feel or do which requires simply to hold our conclusions while we “cast or care on Him” (1 Pet 5:7).

I’m convinced that the answers are always in what we learn about the waiting itself. Do we already know that every difficulty will benefit our faith in God, or do we still need to wait and see the answer? If we choose to rest on Romans 8:28 we will never be void of the proper placement of our “care” (1 Pet 5:7). The lessons learned concerning the fact that we need never allow ourselves to be “troubled” (problems are unavoidable) by any hardness (Jhn 14:1, 27) manifests far more of our trust in God than waiting for how He has willed it to conclude.

Thinking on what we presently possess and by Whom we possess it, and on what we will eventually possess (Heaven) allows our waiting to be more at ease and in greater patience. Reminding ourselves of our present surety (2 Cor 1:22, 5:5; Eph 1:13, 14) concerning the Spirit of God and of our faith and salvation, abides all the needed time to allow our hearts and minds to encouragingly allow the “trial” to pass.

To go from “glory to glory” trials must be endured from hardness to hardness, for it is through the trials that faith is strengthened, which is the provision for progressive access to patience, and it is in our patience that our spiritual growth in the Lord Jesus is evaluated (Luke 12:19). Knowing that every single thing that occurs in our life is used by God for our “good” supplies the most support for how we can endure our trials.

I’ve learned that all difficulties are accompanied by pride or impatience, or both. Thus the response is humble in pridefulness and “patient in tribulation” (Rom 12:12), waiting on the Lord in knowing all is and will always be well!

- NC