From The Problem to the Solution
#5 - PATIENCE WORKS
This morning, we are continuing (after a lengthy pause) our series of messages entitled FROM THE PROBLEM TO THE SOLUTION
And the reason that I feel that we should continue on this theme is because God is wanting to take us from…
--the things that are holding us back
--the obstacles that are blocking us
--those reoccurring problems that keep us down
And He wants to take us from THE PROBLEM TO THE SOLUTION
It is TURNAROUND TIME
And by way of review, we started out be telling you the source of all of life's problems
All problems come as a result of one or more of the following…
--world we live
--choices we make
--enemy we face
--people we know
--progress we gain
--God we serve
And no matter what the root of your problem is, we told you that in order to go from the PROBLEM TO THE SOLUTION…
--First thing – Acknowledge the Problem
--Second thing – Make a Word Decision
--Third thing – Find Your Evidence
--Fourth thing – Learn to Listen
And we kind of left off there, and so this morning, I want to give you the 5th thing that you've got to consider when going FROM THE PROBLEM TO THE SOLUTION and that is you've got to learn the POWER OF PATIENCE
Let's read this morning…
•Hebrews 6:12 (KJV) "That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises."
•James 1:2-4 (KJV) "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; (3) Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. (4) But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."
•James 5:7-11 (KJV) "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. (8) Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. (9) Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. (10) Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. (11) Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy."
INTRODUCTION
There are two reasons why we need PATIENCE when we're going from THE PROBLEM TO THE SOLUTION
The first reason is because there will ALWAYS BE PROBLEMS
I didn't say that you would always have the SAME problem, but there will always be problems
Jesus said…
John 16:33 (KJV) "…In the world ye shall have tribulation…"
Therefore, we need patience until we get to that place where the roses never fade
And the second reason we need patience, is because whatever problems we may have – though they can be SOLVED quickly, they almost are never RESOLVED quickly
If your problem is a result of DOING DRUGS and you came to realize that is the source of many of your problems and you repent and quit and go through a program that helps you quit, that SOLVES THE PROBLEM
But the damage that has been done to your…
--body
--mind
--family
--finances
It may take a little longer to RESOLVE because we must understand that there are still effects and consequences to our actions
And quite often what happens a lot of times is that when you decide that there's going to be a change (which solves the problem) things go good for a while, but then some issue from the past crops up, and quite often you're tempted to give up and quit
But here's where the power is – because if you're going to make it FROM THE PROBLEM TO THE SOLUTION, then you're going to have to understand THE POWER OF PATIENCE
And according to our text this morning, James was saying…
--emphatically
--passionately
--prophetically
That PATIENCE WORKS
And for a few moments, I want to talk to you about the POWER OF PATIENCE
And let's look, first of all, at…
1. THE EXPLANATION OF PATIENCE
What is patience?
Someone has said that patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears
Patience is a virtue, Possess it if you can,
Seldom found in a woman, Never found in a man!
Webster says that patience is…
•The quality of being patient despite the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.
•An ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay.
•The ability to put up with people you’d like to put down!
And the spiritual definition of patience is the ability to wait and let God do what He said He will do
Someone else said…
--patience is accepting a difficult situation without giving God a deadline to remove it!
--It may be difficult to wait on the Lord, but it is worse to wish you had
And how many of you know that's hard to do!
Because if there's one thing we're not, and that is patient!
We live in a world of…
--road rage
--microwaves
--frozen dinners
--instant mashed potatoes
--tanning beds
Do you know why when you go to a doctor you're called a patient? Because you have to wait an hour to see the doctor, and we don't like that
A man’s car stalled in heavy traffic just as the light turned green. All his efforts under the hood to get the car started failed and a chorus of honking horns behind him made matters worse. He finally walked back to the first driver behind him and said, "I’m sorry, but I can’t seem to get my car started. If you’ll go up there and give it a try, I’ll stay here and honk your horn for you."
And one of the most important aspects of going from THE PROBLEM TO THE SOLUTION is patience
Because if you think about it, everything in life that we love and accomplish can all be found in the virtue of patience
If you…
--know how to read
--graduated from school
--have been married more than 2 minuets
--have children
--are a pastor
You know the value of patience
Now, the Bible says a lot about FAITH
But listen to…
Hebrews 6:12 (KJV) "That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises."
In other words, it takes more than FAITH to see the promises of God come to pass
It takes both FAITH AND PATIENCE
Now, we've got a lot of "FAITH" Preachers, but we don't have a lot of "PATIENCE" preachers, because everybody wants…
--a quick fix
--somebody to lay hands and forever there's no more problem
But it doesn't work that way
And that's why James said that there's power in patience and PATIENCE WORKS!
Not only do I want you to understand the EXPLANATION of patience, but let's look secondly at…
2. THE EXAMPLES OF PATIENCE
Because over and over in the Word of God, you will discover that the difference between…
--answered prayer, and no answered prayer
--battles won and battles lost
--great promotion and great demotion
The difference rarely came because of…
--looks
--talent
--education
--ability
But the difference came as a result of PATIENCE
What about…
--Esau
--Saul
Jell-O celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1997. I was fascinated to read the story of the man who invented it. In 1897, a man by the name of Pearle Wait wore several hats. He was a construction worker. He dabbled in patent medicines and went door to door selling homemade remedies. In the midst of his tinkering, he came upon the idea of mixing fruit flavoring with granulated gelatin. His wife named it "Jell-O" and Wait thought it was just another product to try to peddle. Unfortunately, sales didn't go as fast as he thought they should, so just a few months after developing this product, he sold all the rights to a man named, Orator Woodward for $450. Woodward knew the bargain that he got. Understanding the value of marketing and patience, within just 8 brief years, he turned that $450 investment into a $1 million dollar business. Today, not a single relative of Pearle Wait receives one penny from the 1.1 million boxes of Jell-O that are sold every single day. Why? Wait just couldn't wait!
I think about…
A. ABRAHAM
There's no question that Abraham was a powerful man of faith
But if there was anything lacking in his life, it was patience
And you can't blame him
God had told him he and his wife Sarah would have a son, and he thought it would be in 9 months, and it wound up being 25 years
And during that time, Sarah came up with an idea
And you know the story how Sarah and Abraham decided that he would father a child by her maid (which was the custom of that day for infertile couples)
And as a result, Ishmael was born
And Ishmael became the father of the Arabs and to this day, the whole world is still be affected by the impatience of Abraham
Because eventually God did send Abraham a Son and his name was Isaac
Patience works!
And I want you to know that if God has given you…
--a promise
--a calling
--a ministry
--a hope
Then don't give up – PATIENCE WORKS and it will come to pass
I think about…
B. David
If there was any trait that really stands out about David it's the fact that he used a lot of patience
God had called him when he was 17 and it was not until he was 40 that he came into the fulness of that calling
And I want you to know that if God has called you to a ministry, it may not happen…
--overnight
--in a year
--when you think it will
If God has called you to a ministry, quite often he puts you on the shelf for a little while longer so you can learn and grow and develop a little more
And all that time David was waiting to come into the fulness of his calling, he was persecuted greatly by King Saul, and yet he remained patient
And that's really hard to do when people seem to be coming against you, when it seems like there are people put on earth, whether it's a relative or a hostile co-worker
I thought about that Korean boy
I read a story about some American soldiers, during the Korean War, who had rented a house and they hired a local boy to do their housekeeping and cooking.
This little Korean fellow they hired had and unbelievably positive attitude. He was always smiling, jovial, happy and never seemed to let anything get to him or bother him. They began to play tricks on him. They would nail his shoes to the floor at night and he would just get up in the morning, pull those nails out of his shoes with pliers, slip them on and keep on smiling.
They would put grease on the stove handles. He would just take a cloth and wipe each one down and keep smiling and go on about his business. They would balance buckets of water over the door and when he would open the door, he would get absolutely drenched. He would just simply take a towel and dry off, never fuss and keep on smiling.
Finally, they got so ashamed of what they were doing to this young Korean man that they went to him one day and said, "We are sorry about what we have been doing to you and we are never going to trick you again. We just can't believe how patient you have been.
He looked at them and said, "You mean you aren't going to nail my shoes to the floor anymore?" They said, "No more." He said, "You mean you are not going to put grease on the stove handles anymore?" They said, "No more." He said, "You mean you are not going to put any more water-buckets on the door and drench me anymore?" They said, "No more." He said, "Okay then, I'm not going to spit in the soup any more."
David was patient when others gave him problems and he was also patient when there were setbacks in his life like at Ziklag, and he just kept on encouraging himself
That's why he wrote…
Psalms 40:1-3 (KJV) "I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. (2) He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. (3) And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD."
David was saying PATIENCE WORKS!!!
C. What about Job
James 5:11 (KJV) "Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy."
Despite the fact that his whole world came crashing down, internally, and externally…
--his income destroyed
--his crops destroyed
--his children dead
--his body full of pain
--his wife says curse God and die
And despite all of these problems – Job said…
•Job 13:15 (KJV) "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him."
•Job 19:25 (KJV) "For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:"
•Job 23:8-10 (KJV) "Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: (9) On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him: (10) But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold."
And here's what happened…
Job 42:12-13 (KJV) "So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. (13) He had also seven sons and three daughters."
Tell somebody – PATIENCE WORKS!!
We've looked at the…
--EXPLANATION of patience
--EXAMPLES of patience
Now, let's look at…
3. THE EFFECT OF PATIENCE
Because when you are patient, when you allow time for God to work – He'll never let you down
Patience works!
Go back to James…
James 5:7 (KJV) "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."
James speaks of a farmer and what he's saying is that just as a farmer, goes through all that he goes through…
--prepares the ground
--plants the seed
--cultivates the ground so that the plant can grow
Then, when the time comes, THERE'S A HARVEST
Tell somebody IT'S HARVEST TIME!!
You see, this is a principle that God set up forever…
Genesis 8:22 (KJV) "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."
What comes between SEED and HARVEST? TIME
And we always…
--go by the MINUET, but God goes by the HARVEST
--by the SECOND and God measures time by the SEED
And every problem in our life, most of the time, is the result of a BAD SEED THAT WAS SOWN
And when you realize that you've been sowing bad seed, you stop
That SOLVES the problem
But then you have to start sowing the right seeds
And first of all, you've got to reap what you sowed (those wild oats) have to come up and you may already have stopped sowing them
But when you start sowing the right seeds, that RESOLVES the problem
That's the power of patience
And I'm here to tell you this morning…
--don't give up on the brink of a miracle
--if you're repented, you may go through some problems, but you're on your way to a mighty breakthrough
--help is on the way
God is up to something
The best is yet to come
It's through faith AND PATIENCE that we inherit the promise
Let PATIENCE WORK in…
--prayer
--fasting
--giving
--serving
--witnessing
Tell somebody IT'S TURNAROUND TIME
IN CLOSING
Don't think for a moment that patience is passive
Well, I'm just waiting on the Lord
No – until you get the solution, you are…
--working
--ushering in the parking lot
--serving
--worshipping
Why? Because I many not know how, and I may not know when – BUT HE'LL DO IT AGAIN!
The scripture says…
•Hebrews 10:36-37 (KJV) "For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. (37) For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry."
•Hebrews 12:1 (KJV) "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,"
Do you need patience this morning?
Keep running
When you think…
--God's forgot His promise, listen out for Abraham
--People are about to do you in, listen out for David in the grandstands
--You're too sick, listen out for Isaiah
--There's no way out, listen out for Moses
--You can't be forgiven, listen out for Peter
--You've been forgotten, listen out for Joseph
--You're down to nothing, listen out for Job
Keep running! Patience works!
