Do you ever become impatient with God and His plan for your life?
           
If you answered no, you have another problem...you aren’t telling the truth!
 
All of us, including Steve Roll, from time to time, are plagued with impatience with our Christian journey. Patience with the process of walking with the Lord is not the strong suit of most believers. Honestly, you and I want everything our way, on our timetable while we walk with God..
 
Israel had an impatience problem.
 
The Bible tells us in Numbers 21:4 “And the people became impatient because of the journey.” Numbers 21:4
 
On the way to the Promised Land (a promised, prosperous land from God who keeps promises!), God’s chosen people lost their patience. In the context of our verse for this week, Israel spoke against God and their leader Moses (verse 5). Their impatience with the journey caused them to question the Lord and His servant.
 
Time and time again, as you follow their journey, Israel’s impatience caused problems for Moses and reaped negative consequences for the people. Ultimately, their lack of faith, fear of the future and impatience caused them to wander in the wilderness for forty years until the unbelieving, impatient generation died off. (See Numbers 13-14).
 
The Israelis paid a horrific price for impatience.  
 
Before you and I judge Israel, it is a fact that you and I, like Israel, have an uncanny ability to torpedo God’s very best for us through the spirit of impatience.  
 
Too often we fail to persevere through the process that matures our faith and makes us like Christ. We wimp out when we should hang in there with the Lord’s perfect plan for our life. The perfecting (making whole, complete, mature, lacking nothing) of our faith is a process that requires patience and endurance. No patience…. No perfection.
 
You and I can become impatient with pursuing a college degree, impatient with the dating, engagement and marrying process, impatient with receiving a promotion, impatient with servers in restaurants,  impatient with rush hour traffic on the highway, impatient with word processers (like the one I am writing on now!), impatient with healing, restoration, provision or direction etc.
 
We are tempted to become impatient when we experience setbacks, when progress crawls at a snail’s pace, when another Christian’s journey appears to be progressing faster than ours, when the harvest of our labor is less than expected, or when other people wonder why our life isn’t showing more fruitfulness and success. 
           
The fact you and I must face with faith is this: Our times are in God’s hands, not ours (Psalm 31:15).   
 
Meditate upon, chew on this thought for a moment: Who are you and I to be impatient with God’s plan for our lives? How dare we suggest that our Lord doesn’t know what He is doing because we become impatient with the process? God, and God alone, knows the beginning from the end and the end from the beginning. So who am I to dictate the direction and duration of my faith walk with Him? He, not me, planned everyday of my life before even the first day existed (Psalm 139:16). This type of erroneous thinking that I know better than God sounds arrogant and presumptuous doesn’t it?
 
Being patient with our journey requires faith. II Corinthians 5:17 declares “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” Our faith walk is a walk of faith.
 
Walking by sight instead of faith always creates impatience. Why? Because we don’t see what the eye of faith trusts God for. Impatience with our Christian journey says something about the maturity of our faith. Immaturity breeds impatience. Maturity cultivates a consistent patience with God and His plan for our life.
 
Good news! You and I can be patient (yes patient!) with our Christian journey because our Heavenly Father knows where He is leading us and knows how to get us there.
 
Questions We Need To Answer
 

• Do you trust God with your journey? 100% trust His plan?
• Do you believe God is at work when it doesn’t look like it?
• Do you trust God’s timing? Do you believe His timing is perfect?
• Do you believe you can grow through a slow growth season? Slow growth is not no growth. Slow growth is solid growth.
• Do you believe that God has a way of working all things together for your good?
• Do others say you are patient with your faith?
• Do you rejoice and enjoy the life in Christ journey you are on?

                       
The Christian life is a faith walk with God that spans a lifetime.
 
So how is your journey going? Are you plagued with destination disease…or are you enjoying each step of your walk with Christ?  Be patient, yes patient, very patient, with God’s process of perfecting your faith and enriching your journey with Jesus.
 
Patience with God’s plan always pays temporal and eternal dividends!   
 
“In your patience (endurance) possess your souls.” Luke 21:19 (KJV)
 
A Word For Your Week: Be patient with your faith journey in Christ.

Imagine with me.
You have spent three incredibly amazing, utterly unbelievable, life and eternity changing years with the Son of God. One day Jesus announces He is going to leave the earth soon and you won’t be going with Him.  
What might you be feeling and thinking about that?
 Surely you are going to miss Him and wonder what life will be like without Him. What would you like/need to hear from Jesus before He departs?
Thankfully you and I have the answer to that question in the Bible. In John 14:27 Jesus said to His faithful followers “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” John 14:27
Jesus knew His earthly exit would create some fear and trepidation in the disciple’s hearts. Assuredly their faith would be severely tested. Trouble would find its way into their lives. Fear and anxiety of the future would be a constant companion in the days ahead.
I believe Christ’s words to them at this critical transition time would help them live fearlessly in a fearful world.
The Lord laid out for them three things that would help them live with fearless faith.

1. Receive My peace. Jesus would give His followers His peace. Not just any peace, certainly not the false peace of the world. The true peace of God, the peace that Jesus possessed during His life will be yours. The peace of Jesus would keep the disciples’ hearts peaceful as they moved on to proclaim the Good News to the world. .   
2. Don’t be troubled. Because of My peace, no need to let trouble trouble your heart. How reassuring those words must have been!  “Let not your heart be troubled” is a choice the disciples and you and I get to make. We can let trouble trouble us, or not.
   
3. Don’t be fearful. Not only did the Lord tell them to not let their heart be troubled. He also told them to not have a fearful heart. Its way too easy to let our heart be overtaken by fear. Someone said “Fear is the handle of very tool of Satan”. Simply, Jesus is saying you don’t have to be afraid because My peace is yours. 

The disciples heard what they needed to hear as Christ’ departure to heaven approached. He would send the Holy Spirit to be with them (see John 14:16-26) while He was in heaven preparing a place for them (see John 14:1-6). Jesus assured them that they could walk by faith fearlessly in the days ahead.  
Fearless doesn’t mean absence of fear. It means when faced with fear, not to fear.
The disciples, and all who follow the Lord Jesus Christ, can have a peace-filled, non-troubling, fearless faith. Fearless faith in Christ is committed, courageous, confident, contagious and conquers life.
Four Steps To Fearless Faith

• FACE YOUR FEAR

Do not turn your back on fear. Never flee from what you fear. Stand up to it. Get in fears face. Stare it down. Name your fear. Shame your fear by calling it what it is. Call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to chase your fear away. When you and I face a fear head on and don’t back down, fear’s grip will be broken. Fear will retreat like a whipped dog!

• DON’T FEED YOUR FEAR

Stop dwelling on your fear. Don’t give fear attention. Stop talking about being afraid. Refuse to acknowledge it. Stop rehearsing and nursing what makes you fearful. Curse your fear in Jesus’ mighty name. Starve your fear to death. If you don’t feed fear, it can’t grow. Do a little weed and feed…weed your fears and feed your faith!

• FIGHT YOUR FEAR

It was Emerson who said “Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.” Never raise a white flag of surrender to your fears. Don’t lie down and let fear triumph over you. Refuse to hide out and hunker down in fear. Rise up. Prepare to fight. Put on your spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:10-20). Stand behind the shield of faith. Courageously charge what you fear in Jesus’ name!

• FOCUS YOUR FAITH

David declared in Psalm 56:3 “Whenever I am afraid I will trust in you.” Psalm 34:4 says “I sought the Lord and He delivered me from all my fears.” Faith negates fear. When fear rears its ugly head, look to Jesus (Hebrews12:1-3). Take every one of your fears to God. Trust Him to deal with it. Then watch your fear vanish in the victorious name of Jesus!  
Jesus said not to fear, not to be troubled in your heart because He gives you His peace.  That’s pretty good advice for you and me to follow every single day.
 
Confession of Fearless Faith
I am a fearless Christian!
I will not be afraid of anyone or anything. I belong to God.  His peace fills my mind and heart. My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has defeated every fearful and hurtful thing that can come against me.
Therefore, I choose right now to be fearless. I affirm my faith in Jesus. With the Holy Spirit’s help, I draw upon the spiritual power, unconditional, unlimited love of God, and the stability of my sound mind in Christ to conquer my fears in Jesus’ name.
 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.” II Timothy 1:7
 “But immediately Jesus spoke to them saying “Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.” Matthew 14:27
A Word For Your Week: No need to fear because Jesus is near.

Fear, anxiety, worry, doom and gloom pervade our weary old world.
 
Negativity clouds the atmosphere over mankind. The world you and I live in lies in the grip of gripers, groaners, and moaners. Complainers, grumblers, blamers and whiners abound.
 
What is sad and shameful is that many of the most polished whiners are Christians.  
 
In the Bible, the Apostle Paul has something to say about how Christ’s followers should witness to a lost world searching for salvation.   
 
“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world.”  Philippians 2:14-15
 
Paul’s exhortation to all of us who confess Christ as our Lord and Savior is simply this: DON’T WHINE, SHINE!
 
Paul hits the proverbial nail on the head. “Do all things without grumbling or disputing.”  Christians are to do all things (all things means ALL THINGS!) without whining! Christian character and conduct is to be whine free!
 
Let’s be very honest brothers and sisters in Chris. There is so much whining, complaining, grumbling, groaning, disputing, criticizing and judging in the holy bride of Christ.  
 
So why shouldn’t Christians whine? Because they are supposed to SHINE! God’s people prove they are His by shining in a whining world.
 
Whining is the way of the world. Complaining and grumbling is the order of the day. But Christians “appear as lights in the world”, a dark, lightless world whose generations are crooked and perverse. The children of God are to live above reproach (above accusation), be innocent and blameless—this proves we belong to God.
 
The proof of who God’s people are is in shining, not whining! Christians are the real deal when they shine and don’t whine!  
           
 
It is time for some straight talk. I HAVE DONE MY SHARE OF WHINING AND I AM ASHAMED OF MYSELF. Lord, forgive Steve Roll for whining when he should be shining.
 
People who are lost and struggling hear enough whining from the world every day. They certainly don’t need to hear whining from God’s people. Aren’t we supposed to be different? Don’t we have a message of hope that changes lives for time and eternity? How in the world will whining win the lost to Christ and the Kingdom of God? 
 
Some Thoughts About Whining and Shining.
 

• Whining is negative. Shining is positive.

 

• Whiners focus on themselves. Shiners focus on Jesus and others.

 

• Whiners look for what is wrong with life. Shiners look for what is right and good in life.

 

• Whiners focus on what they don’t have. Shiners focus on what they have and will have in Christ.

 

• Whining turns people off to the Good News. Shining turns people on to the Good News.

 

• Whining is a curse, not a blessing. It is easier to whine than to shine. Why? Shining takes effort, whining doesn’t.

 

• Whiners never win. Shiners win. Whining isn’t winsome. Shining is.

 

• Whining is not a good witness. Whining never wins anybody to Christ. Shining leads people to Jesus.

 

• The root of whining is an immature, carnal spirit that is ungrateful for all God has done.

 

• Babies whine and cry. Whiners are cry babies. Ouch! That hurts, doesn’t it whiny Christians?

 

• There is no worse confession than a complaining Christian. How can a Christian even think of whining when Jesus laid down His life to pay the price for our sin on the Cross and rose from the dead to give us victory over sin, Satan, death and the grave?

 

• Resurrection people have everything to shine and shout about and absolutely nothing to whine and pout about.

 

• Whiners can become shiners. They really can.

 
Chew on this for few moments.  As a professing Christian, to whine is to thrust an ungrateful fist in the face of a good and gracious God. If the church worldwide, would repent of whining, grumbling and complaining, revival would break out across our globe!
 
If you find yourself whining, do yourself and everyone else around you a great big favor and stop whining! That’s right. Make a conscious, deliberate decision to shine and not whine! Resolve with all your heart to be a shiner, not a whiner! It takes guts to leave whining ruts, but you can do it.

Shiner or whiner, you decide.
 
Fellow Christian let’s shine for Jesus at all times and not whine about anything.  
 
“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”                                                  Matthew 5:16
 
“Who is like the wise man who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom illumines him and causes his stern face to beam (makes his face shine).”  Ecclesiastes 8:1
 
A Word For Your Week: Stop whining, start shining! 

​Like me, are you asking “Who can be trusted these days? Who or what can I put my faith in?
 
I can’t speak for you, but trust is a big, huge deal to me. I believe life is about trust.
 
There is so much “noise” today in our culture, clamoring for our faith. Think about it. Political personalities, pollsters, media darlings, elitists professors, religious superstars, military power, slick salespeople, master marketers, economic numbers, “trending” products and services ad nauseum, in your face infomercials and more seek your and my trust.  
 
According to Webster trust means “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength or truth of someone or something, dependence on something future or contingent, hope, one in which confidence is placed.” 
 
I believe with all my heart that trust and faith are foundational to success and satisfaction in life. Relationships with God and people must be built upon trust if they are to be healthy and productive.
 
I am convinced that as humans we must trust someone or something to make sense of life on earth.
 
When people or things or systems break my trust, it is extremely disappointing. Basically, I am a trusting person. I want to put my faith in others and be able to rely and depend on them. But not everyone nor everything is worthy of trust. I have had trust broken by men more than once and it is very disheartening.
 
Looking around today, only the God of the Bible fits Webster’s definition to a tee.
 
Reliability based on character, strength, and truth describes God. We can put our hope and faith in God because He alone can be counted on to be who He says Hs is and do what He says he will do.
 
Our Creator put the ability to trust within our souls. Trust originates and ends with Him. Being a God of goodness and grace, He entrusts us to decide where to put our trust.
 
Trust is up to us. Who we trust is our choice.
 
People, even well-meaning ones, often fall short of this standard of trust.  Anyone or anything less than God is not to be our primary place of trust. That’s why the Word warns us not to trust in men, or money, or military might, or anything but God Himself.   
 
The psalmist knew where to put his trust. According to Psalm 143:8, Davide knew who to rely on.
 
“Let me hear Thy loving-kindness in the morning, FOR I TRUST IN THEE.” Teach me the way in which I should walk; FOR TO THEE I LIFT UP MY SOUL.” Psalm 143:8                                                                   
David believed that God alone was worthy of trust. He looked and listened for God’s loving-kindness every single morning. David began the day depending on God because God was dependable. David put His faith in God because God was faithful. David trusted God to take care of every need because God was trustworthy.
 
Note that David lifted his soul up to God. Why? BECAUSE HE TRUSTED IN HIM.  David put his personal faith and confidence in the Lord. It is a sad commentary on our day that so many people in our secularized society lift up and sell their souls to almost anyone or anything except the Living God who can save their soul.
 
Have you had your heart broken because you misplaced your trust? Are you reeling from a life blow because you sold your soul to an untrustworthy person? Have you broken trust with yourself in some area of your life? Do you feel like checking out on humanity because it’s hard to find someone you can truly trust?
 
Before you throw in the towel on trust, I have good news for you. Turn your eyes toward God and trust in Him.  
 
With David, we can confess with confidence, “I TRUST IN THEE” because:
 

• God will never revoke His everlasting covenant with His people. (Psalm 105:8-10)
• God will never break His promises found in His Word.  (I Kings 8:56)
• God will never change His mind concerning His love for us. (Micah 7:18-20)
• God will never take a hike when we are hurting. (Psalm 34:18)
• God will never abandon or forsake His faithful followers.  (Hebrews 13:5-6)
• God can be trusted to meet our every need, every time. (Philippians 4:19-20)
• God can be trusted to send Jesus back to take us home to heaven!  (John 14:1-6)

 
The question of the hour and every hour is: Who are you trusting in today?
 
Paul writes in Romans 10:13“Whoever believes in Him (puts their trust in Jesus Christ) will never be disappointed.” Throughout my life, people, institutions, services, products material stuff, and myself have disappointed me.  
 
Because of His divine nature and holy character, God cannot and will not ever disappoint those who trust in him. If you don’t want to be disappointed, trust in God.
 
I have decided to trust in the Lord who can be trusted. Trust will always be tested. With God’s help, I desire to pass the trust test.
 
I ask you once again “Who do you trust?”
 
“The steadfast of mind Thou will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in Thee.” 
                                                                                                                        Isaiah 26:3
 
 “The fear of a man brings a snare, but he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted.”                                                                                                                               Proverbs 29:25
 
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean upon your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”       Proverbs 3:5-6
 
A Word For Your Week: Trust in the One who can be trusted.