I Don't "Do" Patience Well | Jill Briscoe

hello everyone uh certainly in 1 corinthians 13 it talks about patience which is my word i'm going to talk about today but also in galatians the acts of the flesh are obvious immorality impurity debauchery idolatry witchcraft hatred discord jealousy fits of rage selfish ambition factions envy drunkenness orgies and the like and i warn you as i did before those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of god but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control and against such things there is no law fruit of the spirit so what does that mean it means that if you don't know jesus and haven't received him by his spirit you'll find it awfully difficult to be obedient to any of these things it's only by the power of god through his holy spirit that any of us will be able to live a holy good life otherwise we'll be doing the fruits of the flesh which means without the spirit instead and so i get the word patience uh oh dear i i'd like to have chosen a different one and i didn't choose this is my word uh it's good for me to remind myself again that i'm not a easily patient person not an easily patient mom not an easily impatient grandma or great-grandma i i don't do patience very well and yet i'm reminded jesus did it well and i have jesus by his spirit in me who by that power will lend me the power to be patient and so i'm so delighted we're talking about all these things and actually i could have stayed there in the new testament but immediately and illustration came to mind from the old testament and it's in the book of habakkuk have you ever read the book of habakkuk do you know who he was do you know what actually it's very exciting and one of my favorite books in the old testament but what was happening in habakkuk's day he was the prophet he was the one probably one of the only godly men and only godly prophets at the lowest part of israel's history and god after warning them and warning them was just about to allow the babylonians to come and invade and win and kill and torture and try and get rid of the whole nation it's just about to happen and what happened was god allowed it so i've always been fascinated with the why why do you allow suffering and the big question that habakkuk asked god you've chosen them to punish us for getting away from you and they're about to come over the walls and habakkuk the prophet knowing that it was all over and there was nothing they could do to stop them and all hell was going to let loose for him and for every single person left in jerusalem and he climbs his tower his prayer tower to talk to god prophets always had a prayer tower and he had a complaint what's happening what is this and the lord said you've seen nothing yet the babylonians are coming what you've got to let them take israel and torture and kill all of us yes why you ever asked why if it isn't the babylonians coming over the wall what about the virus why god why it is no choose chooser of who gets it good people bad people all people all ages why god why i understand the why because i'm a child of the second world war and as a six-year-old being bombed every night in liverpool england i asked a six-year-old question why why why why i could have asked though i didn't understand why let the nazis take germany and put your people in the jewish people into incredible hell why and so god speaks to him and more or less tells him that he will not see a savior coming for the country and for the people of god not in his lifetime and so he won't see the end but there will be an end and one day book of habakkuk says that the lord will win and win the world back everybody one day but not yet and so habakkuk has a wonderful little poem at the end he says so i will patiently patiently wait for this day of calamity to come on the nation invading us though the fig tree doesn't bud though there are no grapes on the vines though the olive crop fails and the fears produce no food though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls yet i will rejoice in the lord i will be joyful how is this in god my savior for the sovereign lord is my strength he makes my feet like the feet of a deer he enables me to tread on the heights the heights for him were the low points the low points were the heights in his relationship with god he will enable me to walk this way in other words he will give me patience to accept the inevitable for israel had turned its back on lord and god had told them what would happen until he restored the nation to himself though the fig tree doesn't bud though there are no grapes on the vines etc and then he says give me patience make my feet like the feet of a deer enabling me to go on the high places which actually were the low places for the deer as well so many of them crashed and died because they would leap from peak to peak etc etc so what can we do to help ourselves i don't know young people are you saying how long a lord what are you waiting for it could be something good you have to be patient because god's not coming up with it maybe a job are you waiting for a friend to be a friend or someone to love you so you can love them back are you waiting for a break are you waiting for a boyfriend or a girlfriend the right one are you waiting for courage to say you're sorry to someone that you need to and if you're a student here or even a teacher are you waiting to know how long this period of your life is going to go on maybe as a student you're waiting for fill in the blank and for this you need the patience of god to help you well for this you need jesus and for that you need the holy spirit who is patient and kind etc etc patience knows how to wait even when the babylonians are running all over your life even when the virus could touch you i lost my sister to this virus in march this year she was in the uk as you maybe can still hear even though we've been here many years that's my country and my family were back there she was the last one in my family actually that was alive back in england and this epidemic got her and i just lost her the babylonians were coming in i never thought the babylonians were coming in this form and so i didn't have my why's i've learned more what i did is say give me help healing help me to know what to do when i can't go and i can't be there and there's an ocean in between and god said all right what was the title of your last sermon you gave jill um you can go anywhere on your knees lord yes he said then go he said so i did i went in prayer to my sister and i asked her husband who was allowed to be with her at the beginning of the pandemic in britain they were allowed to be with them if they were dying if he would tell my sister and i'd write it out and send it to him and i would tell her what i was praying for her and i'd tell her about all the things i needed to and at the end i'd say see you soon shirley see you soon you can go anywhere on your knees you know yes you can yes you can and the babylonians came for my sister and i didn't waste time after a long life saying why do you love this happen to him no give me the power to bear it give me the patience to climb on the difficult mountains and even if i slip and fall i'll say you're enough for me lord and i want you to know he is so the holy spirit is endlessly patient that's what i really wanted to say there so i don't know what you're waiting for i don't know how well you're doing with the waiting but just climb your high tower get perspective from god ask him to tell you something i always help myself by writing poems and out of a waiting period that was excruciating difficulty excruciatingly difficult this came let me share it with you it's called waiting waiting for the dawn to dawn when night is long and black waiting for a heart to heal or a child to get back on track waiting for delays to end and wishes to come true waiting for a sight or sense of you waiting for the one who left to find their way back home waiting for this sense of loss to leave my heart alone waiting wondering hurting in a hole of pain so deep waiting for just one good night of sleep waiting for an answer for evidence that you care waiting for employment for just one answered prayer one small affirmation for freedom from self-doubt waiting for a way to work it out waiting for the bible to start and make some sense i'm sick of my ambivalence and sitting on this fence waiting for a promise that truth shall have its way for justice to win out one graceful day waiting for a world that's deaf to hear you and repent waiting for the human race believe the one you sent to save forgive equip to live in holiness and power waiting for salvation in this hour waiting for the violence and the conflict that abounds the wrong you seem to tolerate the injustice that's around to stop because you intervene and answer desperate prayer waiting just to know you're waiting there but lord the waiting's killing me i cry to you for peace to still the storm inside me and make all this turmoil cease help me to remember as i try so hard to do my part how patiently you waited for my heart you waited for repentance that was your perfect jew you waited out resentment and my anger aimed at you you walked into my shadows and you offered me your hand to strengthen me to wait it out and stand so however long the waiting lasts as long as you decide i'll stand upon my watchtower and i'll climb my mountainside and i'll ask you lord for hein's feet and my soul will bring you praise as you and i will wait for better days though fig tree doesn't bad and though no cattle in the store though donkeys and the sheepfold have no company at all lord see my heart our sovereign god rejoicing in your grace content to wait it out and see your face can you say as i've just had to say i'll wait lord give me patience oh i have it i have you by your spirit so i can live according to the spirit and not according to the flesh will you join me in prayer father god i know as i look out on these faces that there is pain and trouble there are hard things in all of our hearts in this very strange dangerous time and lord as we come into your presence i just want to invite my brothers and sisters here to be conscious that we are all in the presence of god at this moment and we're all waiting for something whether it's trivial or deep or life-changing or necessary in this moment may we bring our heart to you our troubled hearts our desperate hearts our empty hearts even perhaps our sinful hearts lord we're waiting for you know but we're here and we know you we did accept jesus as our savior your spirit is within us you are patience by your spirit in us we have your power ours is no use at all it's gone and so now lord we ask you to fill us with your spirit forgive us what needs forgiving forgive our doubt forgive our desperation forgive our angry questions where were you god why did you allow this to happen etc and i give everything to you at this moment my whole life i pray i have some ahead and i don't get the virus in order that i may serve you as habakkuk did for the rest of his life while the babylonians were running all over it and is in your book of books as one of your favorite people lord i want to be one of your favorite people so touch me fill me forgive me what needs forgiving and give me patience give me heinz feet on high places for the high places that we've read about where the low places of everybody in israel and i pray because to me this coronavirus is like that invasion in another way unexpected or expected we're all going to get sick of something but this oh lord this babylonians have come over the wall and we give our body soul and spirit to you your will be done in my life we cannot die one moment before you've decided every day ordained for you is written in my book the day you're born the day you will die and when it is the day you will take us home safely to heaven where there will be no more peace no more tears no more war no more virus no more hate no more anger no more sin one day but not yet so give us hinds feet lord calm us down tell us you're there and help us to tell our world at this point about jesus can you imagine i'm trying to think what it must be like without you at this point so i pray that we may use the opportunity to tell people about the one who is patience and can give it us and is love and can fill us with us and take us safely home one day give us hinds feed lord for jesus sake amen

Channel: Telling the Truth with Stuart and Jill Briscoe

Views: 3,395

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Pete Briscoe, Stuart Briscoe, Jill Briscoe, Telling the Truth, Patience, Fruit of the Spirit

Id: zkkcoHfnZ50

Length: 20min 46sec (1246 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 15 2020