Patience Is Not Passive

So don’t lose your bold, courageous faith, for you are destined for a great reward!  You need the strength of endurance to reveal the poetry of God’s will and then you receive the promise in full. Hebrews 10:35-36 (The Passion Translation, TPT)

Many translations use the word patience instead of “strength of endurance.” The Greek word is hupomone, which means cheerful (or hopeful) endurance; constancy. Many people grimace when you talk about having patience, but the truth is that we cannot expect to possess what God has promised without it.

I understand why many don’t care for the word patience since most people don’t want to wait for the manifestation of their faith. I get it. However, if we did not have to wait to get anything, we would not need faith or patience. It is by both faith and patience that we inherit the promises of God (Hebrews 6: 12). Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). If we believed for something and it happened right away, there would be nothing unseen to hope for. And since God is pleased by faith, we definitely need to rethink how we view its partner- patience.

Patience, or cheerful, hopeful endurance, doesn’t just mean waiting. It speaks to how we wait. We must wait with a constant attitude of hope and cheerfulness. No matter what we see, we just need to keep waiting and expecting what God has promised. That is why it is through both faith AND patience that we inherit. Patience is not passive; it is an action word, referring to waiting with a positive attitude. Waiting itself merely talks of the passage of time, but patience means that we pass that time with hope and anticipation of the fullfilled promise. As we wait, we stay in the Word, keeping our faith strong. We speak what God has promised, and we thank Him that it is already done.

I can guarantee that every person who reads this is currently waiting on something. No matter where we are in life, if we are breathing, we are waiting for something. If we are serious about receiving what God has for us, we must wait joyfully, cheerfully, knowing and expecting the outcome that God has promised. When we have faith, we know that the promise is fulfilled in Jesus, therefore the manifestation is just a matter of time. So, relax, exercise patience and expect the promise to arrive at the right time.