The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Patience in the Midst of the Storm

Episode Date: July 13, 2018

You're listening to the Jeff Kavana show, Episode 72, Patience in the Mids of the Storm. Hey, I'm Jeff Kavans. How do you simplify your life? How do you study the Bible? All the way from motorcycle trips to raising kids, we're going to talk about the faith and life in general. It's the Jeff Kaven Show. And welcome back to the show. I hope you are having a wonderful summer.

We're in the middle part of summer now, the hottest part of summer, and probably the part that requires the most patience. And I know that talking to my friends and getting some of the email from you that people struggle with patience in their life. And in the middle of summer, I guess it really doesn't surprise me that we struggle with patients in the middle of summer. I mean, think about it for a moment. We've got the kids home from school. That might be a reason for you needing patience in your life.

Oftentimes, this time of the year, families are going off to vacation, whether it's on the West Coast or the Black Hills in South Dakota, camping, maybe going over to Europe. I don't know where you go for vacation. But I do know that oftentimes when families go on vacation, there are situations that come up where the parents get frustrated because of the children and the children get frustrated because they're not going to a K-O-A campground with a pool or a hotel with a pool or they don't want to visit a particular museum and everybody kind of gets short with each other. And so patience is really, really an important thing.

And as I thought about it myself, you know, in this last week or so, it's one of those things that I struggle with, I think, in my life, you know, where you want things done, you know, we want them done now. And not everybody is on your time schedule, whether it be at work or at home or your marriage, and it can be a point of conflict. So I want to talk to you a little bit about patience, and I want to offer you some really sound biblical advice on what to do about patience and some hope, particularly in the area of your children, if you have children. And I know that many, many of our listeners have high school kids and those that are just going

to college for the first time, and many in elementary school. Well, you know, we become impatient so often when we want the expectations of our heart now. And we all do have expectations, don't we? We have expectations about what we should be doing in our marriage and receiving in our marriage. We have expectations at work about our colleagues, about the vision of the company, the finances of the company, and we certainly have expectations of our friends. You know, we want our friends to invite us over for something, or we want our friends to help us with something.

But I think one of the biggest is right in your own family, is struggling with patience in your own family. And how many times do you have expectations of your children? children, and they're not being fulfilled, at least right now. And you have expectations of your spouse and again at work or whatever. And the expectations are not taking place. You know, scripture says that hope deferred makes the heart sick. When you hope on something and when you're expecting something and it's either deferred or it just doesn't happen, it does affect your heart. You know, it really, really does. And if you're struggling with that right now,

boy, do I have some good biblical advice for you. Some of the times that we find ourselves, you know, being frustrated and impatient are even Sunday morning, you know, going to Mass, if you have children, family, family leaving the house for church can be a point where someone might become impatient. Your children's messy room might be trying you right now. Every time you walk by that room, you look in there and think, I told them to clean it up. Or remodeling your home. oftentimes is an opportunity for people to become impatient, of working on taxes and all the commotion

in your home, or waiting for someone at a restaurant. You know, you're going to meet at 6 o'clock. They're not showing up and you're growing impatient. When you experience impatience, I got some really good advice here. I'm going to give you some scriptures, and we're going to just go right into this. let's start with Romans chapter 12 and verse 12. I really like this because it says that we need to rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Now when I was reading that this week, and I'll be honest with you, these scriptures ministered to me this week. And I remember a couple days ago sitting down with my wife and some friends, and we were going over this, and I was saying, boy, the Lord is really ministering to me this week in his word, you know,

as I'm meditating on these things. Romans 1212 says, rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. And what I really felt the Lord was saying to me, at least personally, and maybe it'll be applicable to you as well, is that I need to be patient in the midst of tribulation. You know, if I'm going through troubles or difficulties, whatever they might be, and you are, you need to be patient. And patience really could be defined as, as a Christian, waiting for the timing of the Lord, you know, waiting for the move of the spirit in people's lives. And what I was thinking about when I read Romans chapter 12 and verse 12 is that in the midst of this tribulation,

we need to be patient. We need to really create a spiritual sandwich, if you will. Now, Romans 12, 12 says, rejoice in hope. That comes before being patient in tribulation and be constant in prayer afterwards. These two things, I think, really help you in the middle of a bout of impatience. And that is, you need to hope, number one, and number two, you need to pray. Now, hope is really important when it comes to being impatient because hope is looking at the future, not from your perspective, or dare I say, in my own case, selfish perspective. But it's looking at the future from God's perspective. That's what hope is. Hope is an anchor for the soul. And impatience is, can really get us out of control. And hope anchors us. We start to slow down, look at the future

from God's perspective regarding your finances, your family, your children, your job, whatever it might be. And that's one thing that we want to surround tribulation with is hope. And then the second on the other side of that is prayer. You know, how many times do I grow impatient about something, but it's never accompanied by prayer? You know, I never take it to the Lord. I just complain. I'll complain to my wife. I'll complain to the kids. I'll complain to my friends, you know, whatever. But I don't bring it to the Lord in prayer. And that's a challenge to me. is that when I am impatient, I need to hope and I need to pray. Paul also said to the Romans in chapter 8 and verse 25, he said,

but if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. We wait for it with patience. Now, patience is something that we can control. We can stop ourselves. We can slow ourselves down. And when we're hoping for something and we're not seeing it, we need to wait with patience, wait with patience. So hope and patience go together.

Patience and prayer go together in a big way. And hope really, you know, is reorienting your expectations with Jesus overseeing the situation. So if you're struggling with impatience, you know, regarding your children or your finances, your marriage, whatever it might be. Hope in Christ, hope in his plan of share goodness is literally reorienting your expectations with Jesus overseeing the situation. And so in prayer, we would say, Lord, you know, I'm really struggling with this. I'm impatient with my children or my boss or whatever it might be. And we have to bring it to the Lord and say, Lord, I'm going to reorient my expectations with you overseeing this situation. You guide me,

you direct me, and I'll pray for those people, whether it be family or friends or colleagues at work, whatever it might be. So that's really, really, really important. Now, there's another scripture that I really, really like. And in that scripture comes from Isaiah chapter 40 in verse 31. And this has been one of my all-time favorite scriptures. And it talks about waiting on the Lord, being patient in the midst of difficulty. And Isaiah says, but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary.

And they shall walk and not faint. Isn't that beautiful? Let me read it again. I think it bears reading again. It's so beautiful, but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. How many of you know that being, you know, impatient will wear you out? But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles.

They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. You know, a couple of days ago, I think it was three or four days ago, my wife and I were taking a walk, and all of a sudden she said, look, look, an eagle. And to our right, a huge eagle was soaring right above our heads, and it's an awesome thing to see an eagle. But what's really beautiful is how they take the wind and those drafts, and they rise up, they mount up upon the winds, and it's so beautiful.

and that's the image that Isaiah is giving us, you know, is that when we are struggling, we need to wait for the Lord, and you're going to renew your strength when you wait for the Lord. How do you wait for the Lord? Well, it's adoration, Bible study, you know, reading scripture, lexio divina, having a time to pray with the Lord and just maybe take a walk and meditate on the Lord and in your relationship with Him. And Isaiah says, they shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

The point I want to draw your attention to, and it's certainly good, we're going to run and not be weary, and we're going to walk and not faint. But is this imagery of mounting up with wings like eagles, you know, that is so beautiful. Because what happens then when you wait on the Lord and you mount up with wings like eagles is you rise above the situation. situation. You rise above the frustration and impatience of sitting there at that restaurant and waiting for your friends or the impatience that comes up in our heart when the expectations of our children are not what we were expecting. They're not fulfilled or something to do with our spouse. Isn't it better to ride the winds up and see the situation from God's perspective rather than on the ground, hot and tired and frustrated.

That's what happens when we wait on the Lord. Wait for the gust of the Holy Spirit to raise you up above that situation. This is part of being a disciple. This is part of being different from the world. We cannot deal with impatience the way the world does. And honestly, I do a lot. And that's why I'm coming to you today with this, because I need to hear this in my own life.

Another scripture, before we take a break, Psalm 37 and verse 7, be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. Fret not yourself over him who prospers in his way, over the man, over the man who carries out evil desires, or the man who carries out evil desires, I should say. So today, take a deep breath. See yourself as an eagle, rise above the fray, above your molasses road and see today from God's perspective. That's really, really important.

Now, what I want to do when we come back from the break is I want to share with you an insight from a New Testament text that literally caused me to sit in front of my Bible this last week and open my mouth and just go, wow, wow, Lord, you have really ministered to me today. You're listening to the Jeff Kaven show. We'll be back in. just a moment. Reading the Bible is something we as Catholics know we should do, but let's be honest, it can be kind of complicated. Even though it's a complete story, the Bible isn't really one book. It's more like a library, with dozens of books and dozens of genres. There's poetry, prophecy, and prose. There are apocalypses and revelations, historical accounts, and allegories.

No wonder it's difficult to keep a finger on the story of God's love and plan of salvation for his people, the thread that keeps all of it together. If you're wishing there was a simple guide to help you tie all of this together, then you're just like Jeff Kavins and Tim Gray. That's why they wrote the book, Walking with God. Walking with God is a single book that traces the story that ties the Bible together. It helps you to understand the big picture of the Bible. If you're looking to read more of the Bible,

walking with God will help you do it with confidence, peace, and clarity. You can find out more and order Walking with God on ascensionpress.com or on Amazon. Welcome back. We're talking about patience in the midst of the storm, and we're talking about the need to really wait on the Lord, you know, and to see the situation from God's perspective, hope in the Lord, hope from God's perspective is much better than impatience from our perspective, and we need to pray when we struggle with impatience, that the Lord would give us his heart, and that the Lord would really take over the situation for us, and that we would see life and situations and other

people's inadequacies from his perspective, and not be so judgmental. I'm talking about myself there. You just happen to be listening. Now, the New Testament text that really, really ministered to me this week, and I love it when this happens. You know, maybe you've had times where you were reading scripture, doing Lexio-Divina in the morning, maybe you were doing the examined prayer in the evening, whatever, and something hit you, and you just went, oh, my word, God, you're so good. You are so good.

And in this case, you know, with my impatience, God ministered to me in James. The scripture is, I'll put this in the show notes, James, chapter, 5 verses 7 through 11. James 5, 7 through 11. Listen to what he says, and I'll break this down a little bit. It's not going to be hard, but boy, is it going to minister to you? James says, starts off, be patient. Yeah, I got that. Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord, behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it until it receives the early and the late reign. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble, brethren, against one another, that you may not be judged.

Behold, the judge is standing at the doors. As an example of suffering in patience, brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we call those happy who were steadfast. I love this. I love this. And I'll tell you why. Because this text in James Chapter 5, it talks about two periods of time, two seasons, if you will. It identifies the two seasons as the early rain and the latter rain. Now let me explain that to you a little bit. In Israel, the October to November time of the year is the early rain. It's the rains, they're called the early rains. And when the early rains come, that's the time where you sow. You're sewing your seed. And when the early rains come, the early rains cause the seed to germinate and begin to grow. And you're

going to get tender little shoots that come up as a result of the early, early rain. And that's a great time. You know, it's a little bit easier. You know, you plant some seeds and wait for the rain. The rain comes. And it kind of does its own thing and starts growing. And then there comes a point where there's not as much rain anymore, you know? And you're waiting for the fruit. You're waiting for the harvest. You're, you want, you want things to move along in every stage to move along faster and faster and faster. And it can be frustrating, you know. But then comes the latter rain right around March, April. And so you've got the early rain, October, November, you've got the latter rain March and April. And in the midst of it, there's kind of a waiting.

period, right? There is a waiting period. And that waiting period can be frustrating, right? It can be very, very frustrating. And what James is saying is, you need to be patient. He says, it's like the farmer. He waits for the precious fruit of the earth, just like you're waiting for the maturity of your children. You're waiting for the company to make that bottom line. You're waiting for spiritual growth to take place in your life. You're hoping your marriage gets better. You know, all of these things. And there you are, like the farmer, you're waiting for precious fruit. And James says, be patient over it until it receives the early and the late rains. And so the word for me this last week was, Jeff, be patient. Be patient and wait for the latter

rain. Because when the latter rains come, the fruit will mature and there will be a harvest. Now, the latter rains, you know what they do? They ripen the fruit. They bring it to maturity. And the Holy Spirit, this is really talking about, you know, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit moves the process along. And the goal is what? The goal, you know, we're disciples, right? The goal is that the likeness of Christ would be perfected in us. And, drum roll, your loved ones, your children, your colleagues, your friends, your spouse. Don't become impatient before the latter reign. Don't become impatient before the latter rain.

Give God a chance to move along the steps in your children. You might think that they should be at a certain level right now, and you're getting tired, and this and this and that. Be patient. Be patient. love them, nurture them. God is in this. The Holy Spirit is behind this. You have committed them to the Lord. Your business, your marriage, your relationships. Give God an opportunity between the early and the latter rain. Give them an opportunity to do some amazing things. And this is really, really important. And you know what he says at the end of it? I love it.

And I know this is one of those examples of reading scripture and not really remembering every point. You know, I mean, I've been studying scripture for a long time now, but sometimes I'll read things and think, I never saw that because it's fresh. It's like this rama word. It's this fresh word for me today, you know, that God is giving me. And that was the case this week. At the end of James 5, 7 through 11, he says, as an example of suffering in patience, brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. And then he says, behold, we call those happy who are steadfast. Can we call you happy? Will you be happy?

You will be happy if you are steadfast in the midst of the storm. And you wait upon the Lord, hope in the Lord, pray. If nothing else, my friend, maybe this show is just simply here this week to say to you, be patient. Be patient. God is at work. And you know who's really good at this in my family? No, it's not me. You knew that, though. It's my wife, Emily. She is so stinking patient. And you know what I mean by that. I'm being facetious. She is patient. And sometimes I'll look like I want to pull my hair out and say, but this should happen, we should do this, that should be happening. And she's looking to me like, be patient.

God is at work. And I'm like inside thinking, she is so right, but on the outside thinking, isn't it wonderful to have someone different than you in your marriage? That's Emily. So she's so patient, but eventually, you know, the message gets back around to me. And so I'm blessed because of her. So that's really a word that I would share with you, you know, as to continue on in the midst of whatever's going on in your life right now. And just remember, hope, right?

There's a scripture I read to you, I read to you at the beginning of the show, hope, rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. And I really encourage you to mount up with wings as eagles as eagles. as you wait upon the Lord, see it from his perspective, ride the winds of the storm, up above the storm and the fray to see it from God's situation and be like the farmer. And if you're in the midst of the storm, if you're between the storms, I should say, the early rain and the latter rain, be patient. You be steadfast. You'll be happy. I hope that's an encouraging word for you this week. I'd love to hear from you. All you got to do is send me an email,

The Jeffcaven Show at ascensionpress.com. The Jeffcaven show at ascensionpress.com. And once again, I encourage you to go to iTunes or Google Play. Rate the show. It helps in the algorithm to get people to good content. Hopefully you would hope that this is good content that we're sharing here on the show. And I got a really beautiful message from Biddy from Minnesota saying, you know, I've heard you say go to iTunes and show us how to do that

sometime. So I think on the next show, I'm going to take a little bit of time to explain exactly how to do that. If you don't know how to go to iTunes and to take a look at the show from there and rank it, I'll share that with you. I hope I have some time to do that next show. I'd actually just remember that, that I got that email from Biddy in Minnesota. but if you do know how to go to iTunes, please do it. I appreciate it so much. If you got ideas for shows, comments, some kind of praise report, send it along in an email, The Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com. Let's close in prayer. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord, we give you our impatience this week. Lord, we give you our impatience and we reorient ourselves by hoping in you.

in looking at the future with your hope and looking at the future with your strength and by all things prayer and supplication. I thank you, Lord, that you have encouraged us to wait upon you in the midst of these times of impatience, whatever we happen to be going through. My friends are going through right now. And we, Lord, we look forward to mounting up with wings like an eagle and seeing the situation from your situation. Help us to remain steadfast and patient with all the people that we know. Thank you, Lord, for transforming our life. Thank you, Lord, for your word making a difference in our lives as your disciples this week. In Jesus' name, we pray. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, have a good week and a patient week.

Thank you.