Anyone can fight or start a mess. It doesn’t take a brilliant mind, to stir up trouble and keep something going all the time. Any ordinary person, or unordinary person, can always be picking out the bad things, holding some kind of grudge or constantly manifesting some kind of contentious spirit. But, it takes a special kind of person, to keep the peace and somehow, work things out. If we want to quote some kind of verse, we can simply add, these are called, the children of God.

Tribulation worketh Patience

“And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope” Romans 5:3-4.

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience“ James 1:2-3.

Tribulation worketh Patience. I tell you a secret; I never really liked that statement; I had never grown to that place. I saw another translation of that and I would like to share it. It went something like, “Knowing that pressure, afflictions and hardship, produce patient and unswerving endurance.”

I like that definition; it’s something I am just now seeing, in my own life. Some of us have been in a lot of trouble; we were born into families that seemed to like to argue and hurt one another’s feelings. Often times, there was this particular person or persons, who was always causing hurt to everybody else; always starting some kind of conflict. Somebody, had to give in; it was the only way to stop the issue or prevent it from getting out of hand.

You don’t have to tell me, what some people are thinking. They are tired of always having to be the one to give in; to keep the peace. If we are going to stay with somebody, we are going to have to help keep things, on an even keel, as we say. The scripture says, that if we truly cannot live peaceably with someone, we have to live separate and apart. But, this is not really what the post is about. It’s about how you get to the patient part.

It’s no doubt that many of us would like to have more patience, but we do not want to go through any tribulation to get it. In the hour we live in now, I like the part that said, patient and unswerving endurance. Endurance. It just happens to be a quality, that Jesus said we were going to have to have, if we were going to be able to hold out; enduring to the very end.

It doesn’t help to write so much about other people’s journey; it is much more helpful to people, if you talk about your own walk. There are great things to be obtained, by sharing what actually happens in each of our lives; we learn from one another. If I can hold on, and not lose my cool too badly, in any given situation, I’m growing in patience. But even more so, when I know I’m right, and I’ve lost my cool because the other person just keeps pushing my buttons, I have another chance to redeem myself. I can stop, admit my own shortcoming in the situation, and attempt to bring peace with the other person. It doesn’t always work; but often, it does.

This subject, is one of the things we are going to need greatly, in the days ahead.

Jesus once said, agree quickly with thine adversary. I know that I can’t always do it right; I fully recognize my limitations also. I’m not beyond flying off the handle and saying too much; my history confirms that. But, I can say with no hesitation, I have worked on that; intensely.

Those who are the true children of God, in these end times, are going to come up against some very intense issues and situations. We’ve got to be wise; and we are going to have to know when to take the back seat, and when to simply, let it be. Satan is roaming everywhere, just looking for a chance to turn us against one another, to prevent us from performing what God wants us to do.

A true peacemaker will be needed. Defusing, may save escalation.

Robert Blackburn