Author Patricia Hickman & Patience in God

Here's another devotional by best-selling Author Patricia Hickman. I don't know about you but I have drawn comfort and strength from these. I'm grateful that Patricia has shared her wisdom and experiences with us.

Resting in Christ

By Patricia Hickman

Hebrews 3 has as its keyword, rest. Before we get a picture of a Sealy mattress, we first have to get a grasp of the meaning of Christ’s rest. To do that, we have to realize what Christ has done for us in advance.

When my father was very ill, my mother having already passed on, Dad asked me to step in acting as his power of attorney. He suffered his whole life with pulmonary disease and then acquired Alzheimer’s Disease in his final years. In the meantime, he had a relative who had designs on the money he had saved over the years. This person was mentally ill, a violent person who had gone to blows even with her own children. When I arrived in town, I found her selling off my mother’s belongings to neighbors to raise money. I had to work very wisely to get her out of my father’s house and to get him into assisted living care. Then Dad asked me to take him to his attorney where he finalized a will that would leave his estate to my sister and me. Until he signed on the dotted line, there was a great deal of tension and pressure on me. I knew this relative would return to try and gain access to my mother’s belongings and my father’s assets once I left town if I did not put in place safeguards. Because my father’s mental condition would soon deteriorate, he was vulnerable.

But once the will was in place and signed by Dad, I could relax. No amount of scheming or threatening would do this poor individual any good. Finally, I could rest. When he died, I could execute his last will and testament knowing that my sister and I were protected.

When Christ signed my redemption with his own blood, I accepted that new covenant and became God’s newly adopted daughter. My rest is now knowing that my covenant with God is irrevocable, when the testator, Christ, exercises my rights as heir in eternity.

What does that have to do with patience? Everything. All of the work I do, because of Him, for Him, to point others to Him is a long road of work. I have to be patient with myself, knowing that God is finishing a work in me. I have to be patient with His Body because people tend to grow slowly. I have to trust that God is working to finish His work, not to my satisfaction, but to His perfection. Here’s a good verse:

“Let patience have her perfect work, that you may be

perfect and complete lacking nothing.” James 1:4

As God works my imperfect life through the tapestry of His plan, I can rest knowing that I’m secure while abiding in it. That is a true source of patience. It is the ultimate rest for every believer.
www.patriciahickman.com

What do you think of the sentences I highlighted with green? Have you ever stopped to recall God's perspective in the midst of a problem or painful time?

Patricia, thanks for sharing your thoughts. And may God bless your words with power!


The Pirate Queen by Patricia Hickman




The Pirate Queen surprised me. The first few pages made me think I had stumbled into a Southern-style Danielle Steel novel. But then Patricia Hickman waved her author wand and swept me away into a story with layer upon layer of meaning, emotion and tension, a one-of-a-kind family drama. Tender, compelling, outstanding. A keeper."




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