I’m aware the Bible says that we are to “wait patiently for the [Lord]”; but I also am conscious of the scripture that tells us “the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” It can be agonizing waiting for the external, but it is necessary.
It is not always an easy thing for the sick to patiently wait for the medication to kick in; nor is it easy for the farmer who waits long for his crop, or the Pastor looking for fruit in the new convert’s life; and most certainly, it’s no easy thing for the parents of a prodigal to wait for his or her return home
The Word of God speaks of “longsuffering,” that is, one who suffers long. There is a wonderful truth found in God’s Book. And that is, after a long night of suffering, joy comes in the morning.
Jesus laid down this principle when He told His followers, “…ye shall have sorrow, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.” Then He gave them an illustration of this fact, “A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow…but as soon as she is delivered of child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for the joy that a man is born into the world.”
“Sufferings are but as chips of the cross.” (Puritan saying).