選擇 25
雷克-喬納
2022.11.8
正如我們已經談到的，耐心對於繼承應許和在神的旨意中至關重要。因此，我試圖把"等候"變成 "以感恩的心進入祂的門"（見詩篇100:4）並更接近祂的特殊機會。我們被告知 "凡事謝恩"（見帖撒羅尼迦前書5:18），所以我特別嘗試利用意外的延遲來感謝祂，這樣我就能學會更多的耐心。這很有效！
由於感恩是我們進入祂的大門和同在的方式，而且詩篇16:11告訴我們，在祂的面前有豐盛的喜樂，如果我們為延遲而感恩，這可以導致在祂面前有深不可測的喜樂。在這個日益黑暗和恐懼的世界裡，神的子民的喜樂是一個偉大的、迫切需要的光。在以賽亞書40:31中，我們得到了學習忍耐的另一個顯著好處：
但那等候耶和華的必從新得力。他們必如鷹展翅上騰；他們奔跑卻不困倦，行走卻不疲乏。
我們透過學習等候主而獲得的這種"新力量 "是來自於居住在祂裡面的祂的力量。有了祂的力量，我們可以奔跑卻不困倦，行走卻不疲乏。我們甚至可以像鷹一樣翱翔，從更高的地方看世界。事實上，我們"靠著那加給我們力量的基督，凡事都能做"（見腓立比書4:13）。
正如我們在過去兩週所討論的，我們的不耐煩會讓我們付出比我們意識到的更多的代價。然而，忍耐也能使我們獲益，遠遠超過我們的意識。
作為一名飛行員和飛行教官，我從事的是時間的生意。人們駕駛飛機是因為想快速到達某地。但是，如果不花必要的時間進行飛行前檢查和準備，可能根本就到不了。作為一個教授其他飛行員多年的專業飛行員，我看到那些在飛行前檢查中逐漸變得更加粗心（不小心）的飛行員，有些人最終付出了代價。有時，節省幾分鐘的時間可以讓我們付出一切。
我相信很少有人考慮過，遵守速度限制可以為他們的生命增加幾年，而不僅僅是避免事故。我戴著一個設備，可以測量我的生命統計資料。因此，我決定監測我的壓力水準，超過限速10英里，與超過限速5英里，與按限速行駛。我在許多次旅行中多次監測了這一情況。令我驚訝的是，我的壓力水準在超過限速10英里時比按限速行駛高出30%至50%。
有更多的壓力只是其中之一，它可以透過削弱你的心臟和免疫系統來縮短你的生命。根據我們開車的程度，這種增加的壓力不僅會大大縮短我們的生命，而且還會導致我們更加疲憊，工作效率更低。為了在這裡和那裡節省幾分鐘而給我們的生活增加如此多的壓力，會使我們付出比我們意識到的更多的代價。
活得更快並不等同於活得更好或更有成效，而且會對我們的壽命產生巨大影響。同樣，正如我們在希伯來書6:12中所講的，繼承應許需要信心和耐心。我們在基督裡的繼承權會受此影響。這節經文暗示，如果我們有信心而沒有耐心，我們可能會錯過我們的繼承權。耐心是信心的一個深刻表現。真正的信心不是在一個結果上，而是在上帝身上。我們怎麼能對祂有真正的信心而不相信祂的時間呢？
同樣地，不耐煩不是聖靈的果實，如果我們讓不耐煩的情緒引導我們，我們就不是被聖靈引導。以這種方式被誤導會使我們付出的代價遠遠超過任何數量的匆忙對我們的拯救。意識到這一點，卡爾-榮格，精神病學中最偉大的思想家之一和祂那個時代最偉大的思想家，說："匆忙不屬於魔鬼；匆忙就是魔鬼"。
魔鬼是最大的盜賊，牠從我們身上偷東西的成功策略之一就是養活我們的不耐煩。羅馬書16:20也告訴我們，"賜平安的神快要將撒但踐踏在你們腳下"。我們怎麼能住在平安的神裡面而仍然被不耐煩所驅使呢？也許這就是魔鬼進入我們生活的 "地獄之門 "之一。如果我們住在平安的神裡面，透過我們的忍耐表現出來，我們的生活會有多多的果子和喜樂？
Choices, Part 25
Rick Joyner
As we have addressed, patience is crucial to inheriting the promises and being in God’s will. Consequently, I have tried to turn “waiting” into special opportunities to “enter His gates with thanksgiving” (see Psalm 100:4) and get closer to Him. We are told “in everything give thanks” (see I Thessalonians 5:18),so I have especially tried to use unexpected delays to thank Him for the delays, so I can learn more patience. It works!
Since thanksgiving is how we enter His gates and presence, and since we are told in Psalm 16:11, in His presence is fullness of joy, if we are thankful for the delays, this can lead to unfathomable joy in His presence. In this increasingly dark and fearful world, the joy of God’s people is a great and desperately needed light. In Isaiah 40:31 we are given another remarkable benefit for learning patience:
Those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.
This “new strength” we gain by learning to wait on the Lord is His strength that comes from abiding in Him. With His strength, we can run and not get tired, and walk and not get weary. We can even soar like eagles and see the world from a much higher place. In fact, we “can do all things through Christ who strengthens” us (see Philippians 4:13).
As we have discussed the last two weeks, our impatience can cost us far more than we realize. However, patience can also profit us far more than we realize.
As a pilot and flight instructor, I was in the business of time. People fly planes because they want to get somewhere fast. Still, if they do not take the necessary time for preflight inspections and preparations, they may not arrive at all. As a professional pilot who taught other pilots for years, I saw pilots who would gradually become more careless (care-less) in their preflight inspections, and some paid the ultimate price. Sometimes saving a few minutes can cost us everything.
I am sure few have considered that obeying speed limits can add years to their lives, and not just by avoiding accidents. I wear a device that measures my vital statistics. So, I decided to monitor my stress levels traveling ten miles over the speed limit, versus five miles over the speed limit, versus going the speed limit. I monitored this many times over many trips. To my amazement, my stress level traveling ten miles over the speed limit was between 30 and 50 percent higher than traveling the speed limit.
Having more stress is just one of those things that can shorten your life by weakening your heart and immune systems. Depending on how much we drive, this added stress can not only significantly shorten our lives, but also cause us to be much more tired and less productive. To add this much stress to our lives to save a few minutes here and there can cost us more than we realize.
Living faster does not equate to living a better or more productive life and can have an enormous impact on our longevity. Likewise, as we have addressed in Hebrews 6:12, it takes faith and patience to inherit the promises. Our inheritance in Christ can be affected by this. This verse implies that if we have faith without patience, we could miss our inheritance. Patience is a profound demonstration of faith. True faith is not in an outcome, but in God. How can we have true faith in Him but not trust in His timing?
Again, impatience is not a fruit of the Spirit, and if we let impatience lead us, we are not being led by the Spirit. Being misled in this way can cost us far more than any amount of hurrying has ever saved us. Realizing this, Carl Jung, one of the greatest minds in psychiatry and greatest thinkers of his time, said, “Hurry is not of the devil; hurry is the devil.”
The devil is the biggest thief, and one of his successful tactics to steal from us is to feed our impatience. We are also told in Romans 16:20, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” How can we abide in the God of peace and still be driven by impatience? Perhaps this is one of those “gates of hell” through which the devil has access to our lives. How much more fruitful and enjoyable could our lives be if we abided in the God of peace, demonstrated by our patience?
