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Patience: Trusting God’s Timing When You’re Tired of Waiting · Fostering Faith

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Welcome back to Fostering Faith. I am going to
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Be your host today, and we are going to continue
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In this series of our fruit of the Spirit. And
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As we are walking through the fruits of the spirit,
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I hope you guys have tuned in to the last couple
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of episodes that we've done. And so this is the
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episode where we're going to be talking about
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The fruit that we really just kind of try to
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avoid patience. And so trusting God and timing
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whenever you're tired of waiting. Hey friends,
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Welcome back to Fostering Faith, and today we're
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going to be diving into the hardest fruit of
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the spirit to actually live it out, and that's
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patience. In Galatians 5, 22 -23 lists patience is listed
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right after, right in the middle of love, joy,
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peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
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and self-control. But let's be honest, it's
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the one we usually skip over in our prayers.
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We want peace. We want joy, we want love, but
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patience? That's the one that requires waiting.
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room. And none of us likes to sit there. And so
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In today's episode, called Patience, Trusting
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God's Timing When You're Tired of Waiting, we're
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going to be talking about what biblical patient
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Really means and why God lets us wait. What's
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happening in the unseen? When nothing seems to
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be moving, and how can we grow through this process
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without losing heart or a sense of humor? So
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Grab your coffee, maybe grab your Bible, and let's
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get into it. And so what the patient really is. And
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So when scripture says the fruit of the spirit
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is patience, the Greek word there, it literally
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means long-tempered, the opposite of being short-tempered
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tempered. It's a passive or lazy waiting. It's
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The act of endurance of faith. It's staying steady.
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When everything in you wants to fix it, rush
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it or throw it away. We have James 1, 2 through
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4 says it, Consider it for your joy, my brothers
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and sisters, whenever you face trials of many
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kinds, because you know that testing your faith
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produces perseverance and let perseverance finish
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It works so that you may mature and complete,
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not lacking in anything. Notice that. Let perseverance
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finish its work. Patience is not something that.
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gives faith time to mature. It's what turns belief.
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into trust and trust into steadfastness. In the
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world that we live in of same-day deliveries,
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instant answers, and fast-forward buttons, God
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It is more than that. God is more like a slow cooker.
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He's not an Instapot. And we've said that several.
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times on this podcast. He's not late. He's methodical.
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In his timing, he's not just preparing for what's
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ahead. He's preparing you for it. And so why
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God lets us wait? Romans 825 says, if we hope.
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for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it
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with patience. Why does God make us wait? Because
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Waiting is faith in motion. It's where the spiritual
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muscle is built. Waiting exposes what we actually.
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believe about God, not what we say we believe,
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But what we functionally live out when nothing
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is happening. When you're in the silent season,
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When the door hasn't opened, the answer hasn't
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Come, and the healing hasn't shown up, God isn't
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punishing you. He's perfecting something in you.
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That can't be developed any other way. Patience
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forces down dependence. It strips away pride.
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It turns out I can do this on my own, into Lord,
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I can't take another step unless you lead. And
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In that dependence, that's depth. God Delays
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are often driven by divine development, Psalm
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27:14 says wait on the Lord and be strong and
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Let your heart take courage wait for the Lord
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Notice that be strong and wait Live in the same
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verse waiting is not weakness. It's spiritual
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strength under control and so that is That was
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our That was our word of the year. Whenever I
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coached last year was meekness. And so that is
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not weakness. It is strength under control. And
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so faith lessons from the Bible. And so we were
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in class today and we were talking about Hebrews
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12 and how that's kind of the hall of fame faith.
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And so think about Abraham. Um, God promised
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him descendants as numerous as the stars, and
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yet he waited 25 years for Isaac. In the same
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time, Abraham's faith was tested, not destroyed,
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but refined. God didn't change his promise. He
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changed Abraham through the process. Joseph dreamed
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as a teenager that he would be raised to leadership.
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But before the dream was fulfilled, he was betrayed,
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sold, falsely accused. and imprisoned and here's
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the thing none of those seasons were wasted every
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pit and prison taught him something that the
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palace would require of him later and job lost
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everything family health wealth and yet he said
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though he may slay me yet will i hope in him
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that's patience on a soul level Not, I like what's
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happening, but I trust who's in control of it.
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And even Jesus modeled patience, 30 years of
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preparation for three years of ministry. He could
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have started at 12 whenever he was already teaching
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in the temples, but he waited until his father
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said it was time. Patient isn't weakness, it's
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obedience. what patient produces in us. So James
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says patience makes us mature and complete, not
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lacking anything. Why? Because patient builds
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perspective. It reminds you that you are not
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God. And so let me repeat that. You are not God.
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We are not God. I am not got God. And that's
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actually good news. Patience also builds compassion.
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And whenever you've had to wait for your breakthrough,
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you extend more grace to others who have been
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waiting for theirs. You stop comparing timelines
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because you realize that God's doesn't run on
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comparison. Ecclesiastes 3 11 says, he has made
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everything beautiful in its time. Not your time.
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It's time. The time that God has appointed. for
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it. You can't rush it. He's still refining it.
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And here's a quiet miracle that happens in the
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waiting. Your prayers shift from, God, hurry
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up, to God, help me stay faithful. And that's
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the fruit of patience. Not just waiting, but
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wanting and waiting well. the temptations to
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quit early. We've all had them. We all want to
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quit something that is not doing what we want.
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And so let's talk about the danger zone. The
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moment when you're about to give up, that's when
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the enemy whispers, this is never going to happen.
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God forgot about you. You're not worthy of this.
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Who are you? The Hebrew 612 says, through faith
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and patience, we inherit the promises. Not just
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through faith, through faith and patience. Patience
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is what keeps the door of faith open long enough
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for the promise to walk through. And when we
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quit too early, we forfeit what God was about
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to finish. We step out of the oven just before
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the bread rises. I'm not condoning that. And
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what's, why? Are we having in the season of waiting?
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Why does it matter? Because the moment that you're
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ready to quit might be the exact moment God is
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about to reveal why you had to wait in the first
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place. So don't let your emotions make permanent
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decisions in a temporary season. Let me repeat
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that. Don't let your emotions make permanent
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decisions in a temporary season. And that message
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will preach itself. Your emotions can make permanent
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decisions. Your emotions whenever you're mad.
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Your emotions whenever you're happy. Whenever
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you are feeling some type of way and you make
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a decision that has permanent markers on your
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life. And you were just in a temporary season.
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Seasons, reasons, and lifetimes. And so how to
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wait well, how do I do this? How do I wait well?
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Because we don't wait for anything. We want instant
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macaroni and cheese. We want instant this. We
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want delivery the same day. We want all the things.
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And we don't have to wait for anything. And so
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it's just like a muscle. You have to wait. It
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has to be built up in you. And he knows, he knows
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that we are not patient people and he wants us
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to wait. It's his timing. It's his will. And
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we... are changed by prayer. And so waiting well
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isn't passive. It's purposeful. And so how do
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we live it out? One, stay in the Word. When you
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can't hear God, read what He's already said.
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His promises are still active. They're still
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the same. Whenever you can't hear God, look to
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see what's in your ears. What are you listening
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to? Who are you around? Are you in his word?
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You have to stay connected to the vine. Two.
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Keep showing up. Be faithful in the small things.
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Obedience in the ordinary often unlocks extraordinary.
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He wants you to keep showing up for that job
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on time. You keep praying for promotion. He's
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like, but you can't even show up for this job
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on time. You keep praying for an increase. You
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can't tithe what you don't. But you're not even
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what you have now. Keep showing up. Keep showing
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up. Keep being faithful in the small times. He
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sees what goes on behind closed doors. He sees
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your tears. He hears your prayers. He hears it.
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Keep showing up. Three, worship while you wait.
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Versus like in Snow White, I think it is. It
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says whistle while you work. And so whistle while
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you work, while you're working on a better self,
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while you're working on whatever he has you working
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on. Worship while you wait. Praise changes your
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perspective. It moves your focus from what's
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missing to who's present. And so we don't worship
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our feelings. We don't worship with our emotions.
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We shouldn't. Because this song isn't hitting.
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I don't like this person that's singing. No,
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we worship. the God that gave us breath in our
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lungs. We worship because it changes how whatever
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your hands are lifted and you were singing to
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the guy that gave us the sun and the moon and
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the stars and he gave us an opportunity for today.
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It changes the atmosphere. Four. Guard your heart.
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Guard your heart. Don't let bitterness and resentment
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change you. And so allowing people to be in your
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life, allowing people to letting bitterness take
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root, don't let bitterness take root. Bitterness
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delays what patience is trying to grow. Five,
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encourage others. When you help someone else
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hold on, you strengthen your own grip too. And
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so while you're encouraging somebody else, you're
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often just like pulling all the strings because
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you'll do more for people than you'll do for
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yourself. And so you're just reading all the
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scriptures and you're doing this and you're doing
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that to help a friend. And hopefully you're listening
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to yourself because you're probably giving them
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advice that you need to hear yourself. And he
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often puts people in front of you that it's kind
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of a reflection of what you're going through
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and so you can see it literally right in front
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of you. So, patient isn't sitting still. It's
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standing firm. And so, what happens whenever
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you finally see it? When God finally fulfills
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the promise, you've realized something profound.
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The waiting wasn't wasted. Abraham looked at
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Isaac and realized God's faithfulness was worth
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every tear. Joseph stood before his brothers
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and said, what you meant for evil, God meant
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for good. Job? got double of what he lost. And
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Jesus, after waiting through the death itself,
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rose again in victory. Every waiting room in
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scripture ended in revelation. And yours will
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too, if you allow it to. If you don't walk off.
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If you don't get mad and just say, I'm done with
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this. It's not in my time. It's not in my way.
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I just give up. It's not happening too quick.
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And you walk off. Romans 8 28 reminds us, and
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we know that in all things God works for the
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good to those who love him and who are called
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according to his purpose, even in the waiting.
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And so here's your challenge this week. Stop
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asking, how long Lord? And start asking, what
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are you trying to teach me while I wait? Patience
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isn't just about surviving the delay. It's about
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surrendering your timeline. Because whenever
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you trust in His timing, you discover that His
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delay is never denial. It's divine design. And
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it's not about preparing what's coming. He's
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preparing it for you. And when it finally arrives,
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you'll see why it had to take this long. And
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we talked about it before. And so like, to be
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an elephant. It's like you're pregnant for like
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two years because you're birthing something so
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great. You're birthing this huge massive, you
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know, animal versus like rabbits or like cats
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are like pregnant for like two days or something.
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I mean, it's like ridiculous. And so would you
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rather be pregnant with an elephant or with a
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dog or a cat? I mean, and so look at the dream.
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And so you've prayed big prayers. You've prayed
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big things. And so it Takes a while to build
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you to make sure that you have the character
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To make sure that you have the endurance to run
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the race ahead and he has to he has to fine -tune
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things He has to change you has to mold you And
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so So just breathe Stay faithful Don't rush what
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God is refining because patience isn't a punishment
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It's preparation and so we would love to pray
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for you guys Father, thank you so much for today.
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Thank you so much for yesterday. Thank you for
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being patient with us when we're not patient
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with you. Teach us to trust your timing even
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when we don't understand. Give us endurance from
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whenever we want to quit and peace whenever we
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want to panic and faith when we can't see the
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finish line. Help us wait well with hope and
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humility and with confidence that you're still
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working. And we pray this in your name. Amen.
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Amen. Amen. And so we wish you guys the best
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week. We love you guys. Stay tuned for next week
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as we continue this series, as we walk through
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the fruits of the spirit. Stay warm. It is so
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chilly outside here. We hope you guys have an
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amazing week. Bye.