Hard to read, perhaps, but completes the prophesy proclaimed by Habakuk in chapter 2, verse 3 & 4, “… If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed. Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.”
So faith and patience are partners?
Yes.
Wait patiently.
Live by faithfulness to God.
We must maintain patient endurance.
And I know how hard it is. It just is.
The reality of waiting is that it tends to affect our faith.
Especially when the promise proclaimed is slow to materialize.
The Greek word for patience is the word Hupomoné.
Meno = stay, remain, continue permanently, abide in one place.
It is the same word used in John 15:7, where Jesus says, “Abide in Me.”
It intimates being rooted, unmovable, stable.
It signifies a person who, though under a great heavy load, is resolved in staying put in one spot. Regardless of how burdensome the load is, or how long it takes to remove it, he refuses to move from his position because he knows where he's to be and what he’s supposed to do.
The “righteous” ones, as described here, can be defined as: humble, meek, sincere, resigned to the will of God, and reliant on God’s wisdom, power, goodness, and faithfulness.
My commentary says it best in a phrase I’ve been chewing on for weeks. “May we never faint in combat; nor withdraw from it.”
It’s really not our business to remove ourselves from difficulties. And it’s my personal conviction that not every hardship is intentioned by the enemy.
Sometimes we are simply asked to remain steadfast and faithful in the adversity, so as to learn all we can from the unfortunate interference.
Sometimes we are being conditioned to withstand.
I must live hupomoné. I must not seek always to withdraw, but to ultimately withstand.
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