2 Thessalonians 3:5 “And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.”
Before I share what God revealed to me today, I must confess that I made two assumptions about this verse. (I think it makes God chuckle when I go into a Bible study with assumptions!) I assumed the verse was about salvation and the return of Christ. Hmm… I am saved, so I sort of skipped over the first part (mistake number one), and then I thought… ‘Yes, I am waiting patiently for the return of Christ. I have no great anxieties about when it will happen, so yes, I am waiting patiently for Jesus’ return. I guess that’s all for me today’ (mistake number two).
That’s when the Holy Spirit took over. He opened my eyes to what this verse in God’s living Word means for me. What a difference it makes when He illuminates a verse, and how foolish of me to make such trivial assumptions about God’s Word! Originally when I read this verse, the word “patient” really jumped out at me. I could easily say I was waiting for Jesus, but was I waiting patiently? And did this verse mean more than waiting for Jesus’s return? Maybe the deeper query for me should be “Was I waiting patiently for Jesus in all things?” Was I waiting patiently for Him to answer my prayers? Was I waiting patiently for Him to act? Was I waiting patiently for Him to lead? Nope! I am not a patient person; I want today’s prayers answered yesterday! So how does God teach an impatient person to be patient? The answer is in the first part of this verse. He directs their heart into His love.
The more I study His Word, the more I learn of God’s love. The more I understand of His incredible love, the more I realize that His love is the reason why He waits to answer prayers. His waiting is a manifestation of the love He has for me and for everyone else in this world! He only answers when it is in my best interest OR the best interest of the one for whom I am praying, and He always aligns His responses with His perfect will! That’s love! Once I understand this, I am empowered by His Holy Spirit to wait patiently for His answers to my prayers!
What about the return of Christ? Does this verse also refer to that? I think it does, but why do I need to wait patiently for Jesus’ return? Shouldn’t I be eager for that? Of course I can’t wait to be with Jesus, but that’s a very self-centered point of view. I wait patiently for Christ’s return because God the Father waits patiently to send his Son. God loves each person on this earth so much that He wants to give everyone every possible opportunity to trust Christ as Saviour before Jesus returns. That’s truly a good reason for me to wait patiently for the return of the Lord!
In the meantime, I still have a lot of work to do for Him before He comes back again!
Jane,
Your words are amazing and have many times helped me throught s bad spot and helped me understand that what I may be going through is nothing to that which others are or have gone through but even less than what Jesus went through for me. So thank you…