August 18

Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. — Jas 1:4 BSB

What is the work of patience? It has two aspects:

1. Enduring all trials, temptations, crosses, and burdens; fighting through all difficulties and overcoming every enemy.

2. Submitting to the will of God—recognizing that He is Lord and King. Patience means having no will or way of our own, no plan to please the flesh or escape the cross or the rod. Instead, we submit to God’s righteous dealings, both in providence and grace, believing that He does all things well and that He is sovereign, working all things according to the counsel of His own will.

Until the soul is brought to this point, the work of patience is not complete. You may be in the furnace of temptation right now, passing through a fiery trial. Are you rebellious or submissive? If you are still rebellious, you must remain in the furnace until you are brought to submission—complete submission. The dross of rebellion must be removed, and only the pure metal should remain. It is all of God’s grace to feel even a moment of this submission.

Yet, aren’t there times when you have felt that you could be still and know that He is God? Moments when you have submitted to His will, believing that He is too wise to make a mistake and too good to be unkind? When this submission is present, patience has completed its work. Look at Jesus, our perfect example. In the garden of Gethsemane, facing the cross, He could say, “Not my will, but Yours be done.” That was the perfect work of patience in the perfect soul of our Redeemer. We must have a similar work of patience in our souls if we are to be conformed to the image of our suffering Lord.

God will ensure that patience has its perfect work in us. Like a skilled engineer adjusting the parts of a machine to ensure it functions properly, God, in His grace, works on the areas of our lives where patience is not yet fully operating. He brings us to the place where we function in harmony with His will.

Examine your faith and patience by this standard, but do not confuse the workings of your carnal mind with the true patience of the Spirit. You may be submissive in spirit, meek, patient, and resigned in the inward man, yet still feel many uprisings of the flesh. Patience may not seem to have its perfect work because of the flesh’s rebellion, but the flesh will never be perfect. Look instead to what the Spirit is working in you, not to the flesh, which cannot be subject to God’s law. In the still depths of your soul, where Christ reigns as Prince of Peace, is there submission to the will of God?