Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Three simple directives–hope, patience and faithfulness. They seem simple enough, but we have trouble with them, don’t we? Out of the three “hope” is probably the easiest for us. Hope provides a cord of encouragement. Our circumstances change frequently so hope is achievable. Patience is difficult for this generation of instant gratification. We want things now. We can’t wait. Faithfulness is probably the most difficult if we were honest with ourselves. Our dedication to others comes in second to our dedication to self more times than we would like to admit. Joyful in hope. Our hope as believers is in the resurrection power of Christ. Our sins redeemed. Patience in affliction. Affliction can increase our faith along with our patience. God is a present help in our troubles. Faithful in prayer. God hears every prayer uttered. He listens, but the question becomes are we faithful in talking with Him? Talking ‘with’ not merely talking ‘to’ Him. Praying this day we examine our hopes, patience and faithfulness and maybe, just maybe work on them.
