Patience

My job search is still keeping me in suspense. I only got another negative reply for one of the posts that were not on top of my list. The head of unit even called me to tell me that I had been their second choice out of 15, and he gave me a tip how to do things better next time. I found this very thoughtful of him. So in principle, things have been going according to the plan. However, I thought I would know by Friday whether I would get the post I'm interested in, but I was told that they had two more candidates to interview on Monday, and that they would call me back afterwards. So there is nothing I can do now but wait. I know that the Lord can make things happen. The One who can move a King's heart can also impress this man to hire me if this is where He wants me.

Interestingly, the pastor of the French speaking church preached about patience today. This motivated me to do a word study on this topic. The Bible clearly points out patience as one of God's characteristics (Romans 15:5, Revelation 3:10), but there are a lot of references on the importance of it in our lives. According to Romans 5:4 and James 1:3 patience is the fruit of our trials and tribulations, which was also true for Abraham, who obtained the promise after he had patiently endured (Hebrewes 6:14). It's a characteristic that we should definitely strive for (Colossians 1:11; 1 Timothy 6:11). But is this easy to accomplish nowadays? Well, I guess it has never been easy for human beings to be patient, but today we are living in a society where we can have everything immediately. There are fast-food chains, high-speed trains and airplanes, high-speed internet; and if we send out an e-mail to somebody we could get an instant response. However, the problem is that life doesn't give us always immediate answers. Sometimes we have to wait for just a little while, sometimes it may take longer. I don't know if I can say this at my relatively young age, but I guess that life is actually a chain of situations where we are in uncertainty of something, eagerly wait for a prayer to be answered or a desire to be fulfilled. Nevertheless, we have a God who loves us and who wants to come through to us in all these trials; and I'm sure He can reveal Himself to each of us in a special way if we only let Him.

Some of the French hymns really touch my heart, like the one we sung today. It doesn't sound nearly as good in English, but underneath is my feeble effort to translate it:

Trop souvent je murmure

Quand la route est obscure:

"Oh! Ma foi faiblira"

"Oh! Ma foi faiblira"

Et pourtant, la promesse

Est là pour ma faiblesse:

"L'Eternel pourvoira."

"L'Eternel pourvoira."

Si mon impatience

Demande avec instance

D'oú le secours viendra? 

D'oú le secours viendra?

Par ta parole sainte

Tu réponds à ma plainte:

"L'Eternel pourvoira."

"L'Eternel pourvoira."

"Too often I murmur, when the journey is dark. Oh, my faith gets weak. And yet, your promise is there for my weakness: The Almighty will provide, the Almighty will provide. If my impatience asks with pleading, where does my help come from? By your Holy Word you answer my groaning: The Almighty will provide, the Almighty will provide."