Apples of Gold
Radio Script for September 8, 2008
“Let Patience Have Its Perfect Work”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
He tried to open the package with his mouth.
He ended up writhing in pain because he got a zip-tie jammed between his teeth.
Never open anything with your mouth.
Unless you are a 13-year-old boy. Then you should try everything that occurs to you.
The package belonged to his brother’s new combination lock. You know, the kind that are preset at 0000, then you reset them to any combination you want.
Of course, the key when resetting is that you actually remember what you set it to.
Unless you are a 13-year-old boy. Then, honestly, anything could happen.
Let’s say you put on some flip-flops, jump on your bike and ride over to your friend’s house. And let’s say the flip-flops aren’t yours. And let’s say your friend’s dog rips them apart.
Could happen to anyone, right? But throw a 13-year-old boy in the mix and guess what? He wore two different flip flops. So instead of ruining just one pair…
And this is right after my wife said, “The boys are going to a friend’s house, so you can have your afternoon in peace.”
Last week I went to a middle school open house, and let me say, I salute you people. I don’t know how you do it.
One summer many years ago I was asked to teach a junior high Sunday School class. I don’t think they checked my spiritual gifts inventory. The word teenager isn’t there, not even in a footnote.
And now we have twin 13-year-old boys living with us. Yes, it has its joy and laughter. It’s also a lot of work, and often it is downright trying, as in “You are trying my patience.”
So what is it that tests your patience? What gets under your skin, and it’s all you can do to keep from lashing out?
Now think about that while I change the way we look at it. When something irritates us, we say it is trying our patience. But the book of James frames it up differently. It says that it is actually trying our faith.
Do you see the difference? We say it is testing our patience, but the Bible says it is testing our faith.
James 1 talks about the various trials we face, and it calls them a testing of our faith.
Our faith is when we trust in God. We trust that He is who He says He is, and that He will do what He says He will do.
So when trials come, do we continue to trust God?
Listen to my definition of trials. A trial is when we don’t get what we want. We hoped it would happen one way, but it didn’t. We wanted one thing but got another.
That tests our faith. Do we continue to trust God when we don’t get what we want?
If we do, then we have a combination of trials and faith. When you combine trials and faith, what do you get?
Patience.
When you combine hydrogen and oxygen you get water. When you combine trials and faith you get patience.
When you don’t get what you want, but you continue to trust God anyway – then patience is growing within you.
That is what is happening in me (I hope). I wish these 13-year-old boys were perfectly mature, full-grown Christian men. But, of course, they are who they are and all that goes with it.
That means at any given minute I will end up with conditions in my house that aren’t what I want. That is my trial. I don’t get what I want, now how do I deal with it?
If I am impatient, that is a lack of trust. I am not trusting God, that He is fully at work in the situation.
James 1:4 says, “…let patience have its perfect work…”
To me, that feels like a power-grinder working on my soul. Sparks fly and it’s noisy. Who wants to hang around for that? Yet the Bible says, “Let patience have its perfect work.”
When the boys are boys, how do I react? First of all, I must trust God, that He is involved, that He has a purpose for this, and that He will help me deal with it. I trust that He will give me wisdom and strength, and that He will never put on me more than I can handle.
Trusting God in the middle of a trial is exactly what brings about patience. It’s a combination of trials and faith. Put the two together, and you get patience.
And look at the rest of James 1:4, “…let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
So is some situation grinding away at you today? Are you just not getting what you want? Then realize it’s a trial you’re going through. Your faith is being tested. So trust God through it all. And as you do, behold the wonderful thing being produced.
Patience.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2008 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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