Patience to Endure!

We suffer because Jesus is our king, but he gives us the strength to endure.      

Revelation 1:9

It is a curious truth that Jesus is our King, not our elected President! The Kingdom of God is neither a Democracy nor a Republic. When it comes to the things of God the citizens do not have a right to vote. The Word of God is the final authority. Whatever He says is the truth of any matter.

Our great dilemma is that we are citizens of God’s kingdom, but we spend our days in the kingdom of this world. This is a grand predicament, living in one kingdom while pledging allegiance to another. Such an existence calls for great patience to endure.

For a couple of years I lived in Indonesia. I learned some of the ways of living in that country, but I never even considered giving up my United States citizenship and becoming a citizen of Indonesia. The differences between the two countries were constantly in my thoughts as I struggled with what I considered to be foolish ways of doing things. Don’t misunderstand, I believe Indonesia is a wonderful country, but any culture compared to the one in which you grew up would fall short.

So here you are, a citizen of heaven living in “hell on earth.” What do you do? How do you patiently endure the struggles? The answer is simply this: Stay close to King Jesus and let Him give you the strength to endure the suffering! It is an old, but not trite saying: Jesus is the answer, what’s the question?