Patience On The Edge Of A Cliff

I read a portion of scripture that stuck out to me. It was Luke 4:16-30. Jesus went to the temple in his hometown of Nazareth and read from the scroll. There is a complete turn from honor to anger in a matter of 7 verses from verse 22 to verse 29. They went from “speaking well of him” to being “filled with wrath” to the point of taking Jesus to a cliff in the area to throw him off and kill him! Jesus was following form and function in the early part of the verses and then challenging them in their religious actions later in their presence. Then it says that they “drove him out” and brought him to the brow of the hill” to kill him but that he just “passed through their midst” and went on his way.
 
I thought it was interesting that Jesus even allowed the crowd to go that far and basically manhandle him to the point of almost killing him. If I was Jesus in that situation, I am sure I would be like the boxing promoter George Washington saying to Rocky Balboa at the end of Rocky V, “Touch me and I’ll sue. Comon punk, touch me and I’ll sue” instead of allowing the crowd to push me to the edge of a cliff.
 
Think of this statement; It’s a lot harder to have patience with people when you know you are right. Patience is already a struggle for most people but when you know that you are right about something and someone wants to argue with you, it is just makes those moments all that worse. Think of Jesus and what he was saying in Mark 4 and what he KNEW to be true.
 
How many times are we absolutely and completely reactionary in the pushes and struggles of life? Maybe this verse is helping us understand the power and importance of having patience in a situation but to know that God will help us to “pass right through” situations when we put our total and full trust in him. Jesus could have easily called down fire and killed them all but let them alone and then went on his way. When we realize in life that we are not going to truly forcibly change anyone around us, we can rest in the fact that we are only the delivers of truth and not the convincers of those truths. This kind of attitude actually helps us get out of the way and allow the Holy Spirit to do his work.
 
Today, evaluate your life and know that Holy Spirit is ALREADY working on your behalf so your focus can be on speaking truth and expecting God to bring the increase!