Test of Time | Herbert Cooper

James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,  3  because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  4  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (NIV) Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: (NIV) Habakkuk 2:3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry. (NKJV) Genesis 18:14   Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” (NIV) Genesis 16:1-2 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar;  2  so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said. (NIV) 4 Wise Ways To Wait 1. Wait with trust Psalm 37:4–5 Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart’s desires. 5  Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you. (NLT) Proverbs 3:5–7   Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6  in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.  7  Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. (NIV) 2. Wait with a quiet soul Psalm 37:7–9 Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. 8  Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper— it only leads to harm. 9  For the wicked will be destroyed, but those who trust in the LORD will possess the land. (NLT) 1. Be still verses being restless 2. Be still verses worrying about others Luke 12:25–26 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? 26  Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? (NIV) 3. Be still verses being angry James 1:20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. (NIV) 3. Wait with action Psalm 37:23–24 The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. 24  Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the LORD holds them by the hand. (NLT) Psalm 37:27 Turn from evil and do good, and you will live in the land forever. (NLT) Psalm 37:34 Wait for the LORD and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off. (ESV) 4. Wait with commitment Psalm 37:4–5 Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart’s desires. 5  Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you. (NLT) Psalm 37:7 Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. (NLT) Romans 4:18–21 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”  19  Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20  Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21  being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. (NIV) Galatians 6:9   Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (NIV)