Read Colossians 1:9-14.
I didn’t realize how much patience I would need to get established overseas. Learning a new language, finding housing, getting Internet, and planting ministry roots takes time. During a season of adjustment, Paul’s words and prayers for endurance and patience with joy and thanksgiving offer me encouragement.
Not only are we to endure and wait on the Lord, but we are to do so with thankfulness and joy. Sometimes it’s a challenge to remember this truth and apply it, but I have found that the gift of gratitude is able to change any situation.
It is easy for me to grow anxious or frustrated while waiting on God to act or move, but I’m learning to be grateful for all that has happened and rejoice in the hope of what is to come.
Father, we ask for divine patience and endurance in seasons of change and establishment. Help us joyfully give thanks while we wait for You to move. Amen.
-written by a missionary to Southeast Asia