Pulling Enough Weight Requires Patience

In this episode, we reflect on James 1:2–4 and the spiritual work patience performs in the believer. Waiting is not empty; God can use it to give us time for development, modify our character, expose us to other options, increase our flexibility, and clarify our perception. This message is an encouragement for anyone trusting God while navigating delay, difficulty, or uncertainty.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Good morning and welcome to this episode of Igniting Your Day. There is a word for you today, and it is that pulling enough weight requires patience. Pulling enough weight requires patience. The scripture given for this message is James chapter 1, verse 2 to 4. The Bible says, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith walketh patience, for let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. The word this morning is simple but weighty. There is a patience required if you want to be able to pull enough weight. Maybe according to your own assessment, you have developed the skill and competence needed. Maybe you have obtained every requirement that was asked of you. Maybe you have reached every milestone that appears essential for the completion of the journey. Maybe in your own assessment, there is nothing more to do. Maybe for another person, the doctor has said there is nothing wrong with you and your spouse, and therefore you should be able to have children. But the reality is that what you are trusting God for is not yet showing up. Maybe your case is even beyond the fact that something is not yet showing up. Maybe you can identify forces challenging your authority, forces saying you do not deserve the thing you're believing God for. But let us hear again what James says. James chapter 1, verse 4. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. There are works patience does in us. Patience is not empty waiting. Patience is not wasted time. Patience carries out a work in a believer. This message looks at five works patience does in you as a child of God. Number one, patience gives you more time. The first work of patience is more time. What we often see is that the thing we are believing God for is postponed or delayed. But the time gap created becomes a room for further development. That is important. What looks like delay may actually be a space for development. 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 10 says, But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. Notice the phrase, after you have suffered a while, there is a while, there is a period, there is a time gap. But after that while God perfects, God establishes, God strengthens, and God settles. When you are forced to wait, what you may see is a delay in the gratification of your desire. But the time gap you have is also an opportunity for development. The scripture says that after you have suffered a while, the Lord will perfect you, He will establish you, He will strengthen you, He will settle you. I do not know how you have been forced to wait. I do not know the situation in which you have been forced to keep waiting. The end of this weight is not emptiness, the end of this weight is perfection. The end of this weight is establishment, the end of this weight is strengthening. The end of this weight is settlement. You do not wait for nothing. If you have waited for years for something, believe God that at the end you gain perfection. At the end, you are established. At the end, you are strengthened. At the end, you are settled. Are you waiting concerning your children? Are you waiting concerning your home? Are you waiting concerning your body, your work, your calling, your assignment, or your future? Yes, what you see may be a delay in the gratification of your desire, but according to scripture, the time gap created can become an opportunity for perfection, establishment, strength, and settlement. So declare this once again. At the end of this waiting, I am settled. At the end of this waiting, I am settled. See yourself settled. See the Lord perfecting you. See the Lord establishing you. See the Lord strengthening you. See the Lord settling you. So the first work patience does in your life is that it gives you more time. What is obvious may be the delay, but what is actually happening is that the time gap has become an opportunity for development. Remember it this way. PE S S Perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle. May the Lord perfect, may the Lord establish, may the Lord strengthen, and may the Lord settle you. There are people already living in the time gap between the beginning of a desire and the manifestation of that desire. Now, as we understand that this gap can be God's opportunity to develop us, we must take excellent advantage of it. Ephesians chapter 5, verse 15 to 16 says, See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Another way to express that is to make the best use of your time. So while you are waiting, declare that you take advantage of the time gap. At their courses you need to take, take advantage of the time. At their mentorship sessions you need to begin, take advantage of the time. At their investments you are supposed to make so that by the time the thing arrives, you are better positioned, take advantage of the time. Everything you're supposed to do in anticipation of what you are trusting God for, may the Spirit of God guide you into it. May you remain guided in the name of Jesus. So, friends, the first work of patience in us is more time, but patience does not stop there. Number two, patience modifies your character. The second work of patience is character modification. What we often see is the difficulty we experience in getting things done, but that difficulty is also modifying our character. The fact that the thing is giving you a headache may mean there is something it is gradually changing in you. The fact that you are finding it hard to achieve a thing and you are not stopping means something is being deposited inside you daily. The fact that you have tried several times and still refuse to give up means there is a modification going on in your character. Romans chapter 5, verse 3 to 4 says, and not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope. Another translation says, and patience character, and character hope. Yes, I know, but please do not stop. That thing has been challenging, yes, I know, but please do not give up. That thing has drawn much money, much energy as well from you. But as long as you are certain that it is a worthy cause and you have the backing of the Lord, please do not give up. Those challenging situations are modifying your character, they are strengthening your character, they are changing you positively, even when the change is gradual. They are working in you something you may not have been able to add to yourself without the existence of such challenges. Patience does not only give us more time, patience works character modification in us. Galatians chapter 6 verse 9 says, And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. So I declare, I will not give up. I declare, you will not give up. I declare, we will not give up, we will not grow weary, we will not faint before the harvest. Yes. Friends, if you know someone going through a hard time, please pray for them this morning. They have been believing God for something and it has not showed up yet. Pray that they will not give up. They will not give up. They will not give up. The fact that you are trying hard and trying again is enhancing your character. Let patience have its perfect work. Do not truncate that dream. Do not abandon the process. Let patience have its perfect work. As you continue trying, something is being added to you daily. It may be subtle, but something is being formed. Lord, I lift up everyone looking to you for one thing or the other. We declare that they will not give up. They will not give up. They will not give up. Yes. Patience does not only give us more time, patience modifies our character. It is during that period you may realize maybe the attitude you have been bringing into this is not the best. That is, when you may realize you need to pivot your attitude. May the Lord help and bless you in the name of Jesus. Amen. Number three, patience acquaints you with other options. The third work patience does in us is acquaintance with other options. You become aware of other options. Some of us are going through situations that are very painful right now. But one reason they may feel so painful is because we have not opened our minds to see other options. We have not opened our minds to explore other options. We have not opened our hearts to say, Lord, I know this is how I wanted it to happen. But are there other ways you have reserved for your children to enjoy the same thing? The Lord can deliver you from pain by opening your eyes to other options. Patience does not just give more time. Patience does not just modify character, patience gives acquaintance with other options. It is in those situations that you learn other ways of doing the same thing. What we often keep asking is why is this thing difficult like this? But such moments may become opportunities to discover other ways of achieving the same thing. A strong example is found in Exodus chapter 18, verse 17 to 23. When Jeto spoke to Moses, Moses was trying to judge and leave the people alone. Jethro observed him and told him what he was doing was not good. He warned him that both he and the people would wear themselves out because the work was too much for him to carry alone. Then Gethrough gave Moses counsel. He told him to teach the people the laws and the ways of God, and then to select able men who feared God, men of truth, and appoint them as rulers over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. The difficult matters would come to Moses, but the smaller matters will be handled by others. In this way, the burden will be shared. Moses would endure, and the people will go to their place in peace. What happened there? Moses was doing leadership alone, he was attending to complaints, issues, and judgments by himself. But his father-in-law warned him, You will wear yourself out. There is a such thing as other options, friends. There is such a thing as other options. Who told you that the thing you want and the way you want it is the only way it can happen? Who told you that? Patience exposes us to other options, it helps us gain acquaintance with other ways of getting things done. Moses was stressed, but God brought relief through Jethro. In the same way, the Lord can bring you relief. I do not know who your own Jethro is, but God is able to bring someone into your life who gives you counsel and helps you consider other options. May the Lord release such people to you. As you step out today, may God release men and women who will help you see other ways of getting things done. There is something about this that you and I have to know. There is someone who has what it takes to provide enlightenment and show you what you must do. My brother, there are other options. My sister, there are other options. Patience works acquaintance with other options in us. It helps us know more ways of getting the same thing done. Number four, patience enhances your flexibility. The first work patience does in us is flexibility enhancement. Your flexibility is just enhanced. Maybe you went into the situation being rigid, focused on only one way. You thought the only way you knew would get the job done. But in the face of reality, you discovered that while what you saw was essentially true, there were many nuances that could not be ignored. This happens many times when we receive a prophetic word. We run with that prophetic word. But when the time of manifestation comes, we discover that the revelation, the vision, or the word was essentially true. Yet there are many nuances surrounding it. It takes a flexible person to hold on to the essential thing and still navigate the nuances around it. Proverbs chapter 16, verse 9 says, A man's heart diviseth his way, but the Lord directed its steps. There is a way you plan. I know. Thank God for the introduction of patience into your life. Patience will not just give you more time, it will not just modify your character, it will not just acquaint you with other options. Patience will enhance your flexibility. Proverbs chapter 19, verse 21 says, There are many devices in a man's heart. Nevertheless, the counsel of the Lord that shall stand. You may have many plans, but the Lord's counsel will stand. So pray this morning. Lord, make me flexible enough to let your counsel stand in my life. Yes. My friends, it's important to have a plan, it's important to have a budget, it's important to have short-term goals, mid-term goals, and long-term goals. But the scripture says that although there are many plans in a man's heart, it is the counsel of the Lord that will stand. So I declare this morning. I am flexible enough to let the counsel of God stand in my life. You too declare this morning that you are flexible enough to let the counsel of God stand in your life. Yes, before you began that engagement, you may have prepared your terms of reference, you may have worked hard on it, thought deeply about it, and revised it many times, but still pray for flexibility. There may be an idea you received and you know it was divine. There may be an insight the Holy Spirit supplied. There may be a revelation you had and we can testify that God truly speaks to you. There may be a word publicly proclaimed in the presence of many witnesses, and we know that word is true. But when the time of manifestation comes, you may discover that while the word is essentially true, there are many nuances around it. It takes someone with mastery inflexibility to receive the essential thing and still lose nothing while navigating the surrounding nuances. I therefore pray for you this morning. Nothing missing, nothing broken in the name of Jesus. Number five, patience gives perception clarity. Yes, patience gives perception clarity. Patience works perception clarity in us. You obtain more clarity about the thing you are trusting God for. Maybe you initially thought that thing will mean so much more to your life. But through the delay, you had more time to reconsider not only the thing you are trusting God for, but also the effort you have put into achieving it. This helps you avoid giving an overbloeded value to that thing you are trusting God for. It helps you properly classify where that thing belongs in your life. Let's look at Psalm 73, verse 12 to 17. Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world, they increase in riches. Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued and chastened every morning. For if I say I will speak thus, behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me until I went into the sanctuary of God. Then understood I their end. It looked as if they were at ease and decreasing in riches. He began to wonder whether he had cleansed his heart in vain. But then he said, Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end. When he entered the sanctuary, God opened his eyes. He saw the end of what had been troubled. He saw the end of what he had been troubled by. That was when he understood what he was tempted to envy was not what the weight he has placed on it. And it is the same thing that happens to us until we get clarified, until our perception becomes fully clear. We do not understand that that thing we have attached so much worth to may not actually be worth our while. There are many things we are trusting God for today in our eyes. There are many things you and I believe that until they happen, maybe we will not go forward the way we should. I tell you, in your eyes, they may carry an overbloated value. Until God opens our eyes, we may not see the true value of what we have been pursuing. That is one of the works of patience. Patience does not just give more time, patience does not just modify character, patience does not just acquaint us with other options. Patience does not just enhance our flexibility, patience also gives perception clarity. Your eyes open as they shoot in the name of Jesus. You begin to see better in the name of Jesus. Maybe this is one of the greatest parts of your waiting. That you begin to see the true value of what you have been waiting for. Maybe you have been thinking, once I get this, my life will never remain the same. But God may be using the waiting season to show you that your life is not defined by that thing. Maybe you have said, just let me get this thing. But through patience, God gives you a clearer perception. When you wait as the Lord expects you to wait, you do not only gain more time, your character is not only modified, you do not only learn more options, you do not only become more flexible, your perception becomes clearer. Why don't you pray this morning? Lord help me see better. The psalmist said that when he went into the sanctuary of God, he understood their end. You need to understand the end of some of the things you are pursuing today. You need to understand the end of the thing you are running after. Yes. So there are trials, there are struggles, but I do not want you to see only the trials and the struggles. Those trials and troubles are pregnant with patience, and patience works in us at least five things. One, more time, two, character modification, three, acquaintance with other options, four, flexibility enhancement, and five, perception clarity. You may have been acting as if that thing meant the whole world to you. But when your eyes are open to see how much effort you have already exerted, even without the presence of that thing in your life, you will gain a better appreciation of who God made you outside that thing you have been trusting Him for. I pray for you. Your eyes are open in the name of Jesus. May the Lord help you see the waiting season correctly. May you not waste the time gap. May you not give up your character. May you not give up while your character is being formed. May your eyes open to other options. May your flexibility increase. May your perception become clearer. And may patience have its perfect work in you until you are perfect and entire wanting nothing. In closing, my friends, take a moment today to identify one area where you are waiting on God and pray specifically. Lord, let patience have its perfect work in me. Help me use this waiting season well in the name of Jesus. Friends, I am wishing you this morning an amazing day ahead. God bless you.