Be Patient, Endure, And Rejoice!

2 Corinthians 1:5-7

For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

Romans 13:3-5

For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me." For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

There are three things that the Lord has given me, regarding today’s message. When we are facing trials and tribulations, we are always told about the virtues of patience, and how we are to endure. But one of the things that we don’t hear about is that in the midst of our struggles, or while we are waiting for our breakthroughs, that we should still be REJOICING and celebrating all of God’s goodness. God wants us to not only be patient in waiting for our miracles, and he not only wants us to endure our hardships, but as servants of the Most High, he wants us to not forget to give Him all the honor, the glory, and the praise! God doesn’t want us moping and looking downcast when things don’t go our way, and he doesn’t want us give up hope as we wait for our breakthroughs.

Let’s start with patience, and what it truly means to be patient. Some of the dictionary definitions of patience are: the ability and willingness to wait a long time or to carry out a task that takes a long time, and the ability to wait without complaining. Also, from a Biblical perspective, we can say that patience is persevering towards a goal, enduring trials, or expectantly waiting for a promise to be fulfilled. We can see by these definitions that patience is something that God definitely wants from his children. Plenty of God’s children have prospered as a result of their patience, and God has also shown how impatience can cause you to delay your blessings.

Patience Developed (How Do We Develop Patience?)

1. God’s power develops patience.

“being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience” (Colossians 1:11).

2. Trusting God’s goodness develops patience.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28).

3. Allowing trials to purify character develops patience.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4).

4. Resting in God’s timing develops patience.

“Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.” (Psalms 37:7-9).

5. Waiting for Christ’s return develops patience.

“Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. 8You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near." (James 5:7-8).

Patience Demonstrated (How Do We Demonstrate Patience? By following Biblical Examples)

“Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. 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.” James 5:10-11

1. Job (James 5:11)

2. Abraham -- And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. (Hebrews 6:15)

3. Paul -- You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance (2 Timothy 3:10)

4. Jesus -- May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance. (2 Thessalonians 3:5)

5. God -- May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus (Romans 15:5)

How We Use Patience In Our Responses

1. Thank God: When something happens (especially if something goes wrong), a person’s first reaction is usually “Why me?”, but the Bible says to rejoice in God’s will. 1 Peter 1:6 says “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.”

2. Seek His purposes: Sometimes, God puts people in difficult situations in order to witness. Other times, He might allow a trial for sanctification of character. Instead of asking “Why me”, ask God what is His will.

3. Remember His promises. He has promised never to leave us, nor forsake us!

Our Patience Will Be Rewarded

1. Hope -- Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope (Romans 5:3-4)

2. Inherit the promise, glory, honor, immortality -- Hebrews 6:12-15 says “We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, "I will surely bless you and give you many descendants." And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.” Romans 2:7 states “To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.”

3. Maturity -- Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything (James 1:4)

4. Answered prayer -- I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry (Psalm 40:1)

5. Pleasure of God -- But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. (1 Peter 2:20)

The next time you’re in a traffic jam, betrayed by a friend, or mocked for your testimony, how will you respond? The natural response is to be impatient, which leads to stress, anger, and frustration. Praise God, Christians are no longer in bondage to a “natural response.” We don’t have to rely on the “old man” to help us with our response! Instead, we have the Lord’s strength to respond with complete trust in the Father, who uses trials for good (Romans 8:28). Through God’s power, purpose to be patient. “To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life” (Romans 2:7).

We have seen how God rewards those who are patient, and how he tests us to see who isn’t patient. We know about the patience of Job, who refused to curse God despite all that was taken away from him. And we also know that patience is one of the fruits of the spirit.

Now that we have discussed patience, we can talk about endurance. A lot of times, patience and endurance go hand in hand. But when we look at the definition of endurance, we see that it is “the power to withstand hardship or stress.” One of the key words in that definition is “POWER”, which lets us know that endurance isn’t a passive activity. When we talk about endurance, we are usually talking about enduring something that’s unpleasant or difficult. We talk about endurance when we are talking about suffering, when we are talking about pain, when we are talking about sadness.

We talk about endurance in different kinds of training, and how we need to build up our endurance to grasp the material, build, and advance to higher levels. If we don’t have the endurance to handle the basics, then how can we expect to handle the greater challenges that lie ahead? Let’s look at a marathon runner, for example. If a person expects to run a 26-mile marathon, they are going to have to be able to endure. But if you don’t have the endurance to run one or two blocks without getting winded, then there is no way that you’re going to have the strength to run a complete marathon. And if endurance is importance in the natural world, imagine just how much more effective it is in the spiritual realm!

By the grace of God, we have been given the power to endure any hardships! Jesus told his disciples (and us) that we are to expect trials and tribulations. John 16:32-33 says “But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." And when we are called to endure, it’s not something that should discourage us, or bring us down. Being called to endure for the sake of the gospel is actually a blessing! In James 1:2-3, the Word says “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” James 1:12 says “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

When we think about endurance, we have no greater example than Jesus! Think of what he endured willingly for our sake! He was beaten, tortured, and crucified for our sins, and he endured on the cross! Instead of calling down legions upon legions of angels, he endured scorn, shame and unimaginable pain for us!

Think about what we are being asked to endure through. We sometimes have to endure and be strong when a loved one passes. We have to endure when we suffer setbacks. We have to endure when we are sick. We have to endure when our family turns on us, or when we are being persecuted. But when we endure, we achieve the victory! We have the victory over death when we endure! We have the victory over sickness when we endure. We have the victory over all situations when we endure, because we keep our eyes heavenward! The Apostle Paul tells us “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” Paul also tells us in 2 Timothy “if we endure, we will also reign with him.”

Remember when I said that the dictionary definition of endurance was “the power to withstand hardship or stress.” And when we are talking about spiritual endurance, we are talking about using the power that God given us to persevere! We can’t let the distractions of the world keep us from enduring and persevering! Hebrews 12:1-3 says “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

But what do we do when we are being patient, and enduring? This is the key to enduring all of our hardships: In order to endure, and show patience, we must continuously rejoice! We can’t let the enemy steal our joy, even when we are going through trials and tribulations. There is nothing in the Word that tells us to hang our heads in shame or show despair as we endure, as we persevere, and as we show patience. We shouldn’t be looking downward when we are waiting on our miracles, because our miracles and our breakthroughs are not on the ground!

What does Philippians 4:4 say? It says “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” It doesn’t say that we rejoice until something negative happens to us. It doesn’t say “rejoice after you’ve received your miracle.” It doesn’t say “rejoice only when things are going your way.” It says to rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS! That doesn’t mean that we aren’t going to cry, and that doesn’t mean that we won’t feel pain. What it means is that regardless of what we are going through, we can still rejoice. Regardless of the circumstances, we can still celebrate the goodness of the Lord!

Romans 12:11-13 says “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer”, and 1 Thessalonians 15:16 simply says “be joyful always.” Jesus himself said “will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” So why do we rejoice even in the face of tragedy or sadness? Because as Christians, we are unique! We are set apart! We are “…a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

Think about the words to the song that was played during the Moment of Meditation: “I’m reaping the harvest God promised me/Take back what the devil stole from me/and I rejoice TODAY/For I shall recover it all!” This song is aligned with the Word. It’s not telling us to rejoice after we’ve recovered what was taken from us. It’s not telling us to postpone our celebration until after we received our miracle. Even if something was taken from us, we can still rejoice!

One of the most profound lessons that I received from Apostle Gray was “before you get it, thank God for it!” When you have the faith to thank God BEFORE the breakthrough arrived, and when you have the faith to maintain your joy BEFORE your miracle has come through in the natural realm, you are operating in God’s power. The enemy doesn’t want you to operate on faith. The enemy doesn’t want you to claim your inheritance now! The enemy wants to keep the smoke and mirrors in front of you, to keep you from looking into the spiritual realm for your blessings. The enemy wants you to be despondent because of your trials and your tribulations.

But God wants us to celebrate his love, right now! The Lord wants us to shout, dance, and rejoice now! The harvest is out there now! The blessings are out there now! The miracles are out there now! God said that He would never leave us nor forsake us, so we can rejoice now! He has given us the Holy Spirit, so we can rejoice now! He has given us power from on high, so we can rejoice now! He has given us direct access to Him, so we can rejoice now! He has given us healing! He has given us another day to worship and praise him! He’s already been better to us than we’ve been to ourselves.

Even if he didn’t do another thing for me, I can still rejoice! I can rejoice today because He came down to where I was, in my mess. I rejoice because He still pours out His grace and mercy!

1 Peter 1:5-7 says “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed”

When we go through trials and tribulations, we are being refined! Our faith is continuing to be perfected! The Lord tells us in Zechariah 13:9 “I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The LORD is our God.'” Being tested by the Lord is a reason to rejoice, because that shows that He believes in us to carry on His work! And when we pass those tests, when we continue to show ourselves approved, we can continue to rejoice, and we can continue to celebrate! We can continue to seek His peace, and His joy!

We rejoice today because our breakthrough is here today! We rejoice today because our miracles are here today! We rejoice today because our healing is here today! We rejoice today because our deliverance is here today! It may not be here in the natural world, but we serve a God who is everywhere at all times! God is waiting for us to step into our blessings and our inheritance. All we have to do is continue to be patient, to endure the hardship, and to rejoice now. He wants us to stand tall, to hold fast to our faith, and to overcome with the spirit of a conqueror. He made us more than conquerors, according to the Word, and because of that, we will ALWAYS have the power to be patient, endure, and rejoice… even in the face of the direst circumstances.