Milestones on the Road to a Worthy Walk, Part 3 A Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: Milestones on the Road to a Worthy Walk, Part 3 Keyword: "patience” Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. Passage: Ephesians 4:1-2* 1. I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called 2. with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love. Questions 1. Do you know someone who is patient? Does that person seem resigned to fate, or passionate about what he/she desperately wants?   2. Do you tend to resign yourself when you don't get what you want or lose your temper or exercise your patience muscle?   Practical help Patience is the third item on Paul's "worthy walk" list. This eXXit writer finds patience to be a challenge, which is to say that I find trusting God to be a challenge. But patience — waiting for something I want desperately without losing either my passion or my temper — is available to you and me when we trust God. In thinking about patience, let's review the life of a much respected scriptural hero — Abraham. As much as we may love and respect Abraham, we're going to have to give him the Anti-Patience Award. Think about it. Abraham received a promise from God that he and his wife Sarah would have a son. What a great promise! After a few years of waiting for the fulfillment of that promise, he impatiently named his servant, Eleazar of Damascus, his heir. He didn't wait for God's provision of a son. God told him Eleazar would not be his heir. "Be patient, Abraham. Wait." A few more years passed and Abraham impatiently took his wife's maid, Hagar. They produced a son, Ishmael. Again, God told him, "Nope, the promise will not be fulfilled through Ishmael. Be patient, Abe. I'll come through in My own way and in My time." And sure enough, after 25 years of waiting, God fulfilled His promise, and Isaac was born to Abraham (100 years old) and Sarah (90 years of age). Notice, though, the number of times Abraham lost his patience and acted out of impatient faithlessness. All that being said, I'm not saying I would have done any better. I struggle to be patient when there is far less "on the line." But just think of the powerful testimony it would be if I — and if you — were to exercise a patient trust in God for what we desperately want and not impatiently lose our temper all because we are trusting God with our life's timeline. They will conclude that God is worth trusting. Waiting patiently for sexual fulfillment in God's time and in God's way — not through the illegitimate means of Internet porn and without denying how badly we want sexual fulfillment and without losing our temper! — is one more ingredient in the "walking worthy of our calling" life. eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 2003 by eXXit *Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission. ----