For the past thousands of years we have heard that Jesus is returning. Many generations have passed and the Lord has not returned.

Do you think He has changed His mind?

Waiting is difficult!

Waiting sometimes requires supernatural patience.

Generally, people do not like to wait and so scientists developed technology to eliminate the waiting period.

We are living in the era of Artificial Intelligence (AI) where you can get a letter or an entire book written in seconds.

Consequently, more people especially the younger generation, are becoming dependent on AI and less on their creative capabilities.

Hence, they are not able to develop patience and long suffering.

However, the Lord wants us to be patient and sometimes He allows us to wait before granting us our request.

One of the fruit of the Spirit is patient (Galatians 5:22-23), which is develop through trials (James 1:3-4).

Jesus tell us in Matthew 24 that one of the signs that will signify His return is an increase in trials and tribulation.

I don’t believe there is anyone who hasn’t been through some form of intense trials.

It is difficult to rejoice during trials, but we can allow the trials to develop our patience.

The Lord Jesus promises that He will return, “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” (Revelation 22:12 KJV)

When Jesus returns He is coming with reward. Revelation 2 tells us about some of these rewards that will be granted to all those waited patiently through trials and suffering.

One of the ultimate rewards will be food from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God (V7).

There is an old Jamaican proverbs that says, “Patient man rides donkey.”

This means that with patience and persistence, you will overcome difficult obstacles. You can also manage stubborn situations and achieve long term goals.

However, Jesus promises even more supernatural rewards when you persevere until He returns.

The ultimate reward for patience

• A crown of life.
• Immunity to the second death.
• You will eat hidden manna, which means lasting spiritual nourishment with deep relationship with Jesus.
• A white stone, which means total removal of sins.
• A new name unique only to you.
• You will receive the morning star.
• You will be clothed in white garments with a permanent record of your name in the Book of Life certified by Jesus before the Father and His angels.
• You will become a pillar in the Temple of God and marked with the name of Jesus.
• You will receive special privilege to sit with Jesus on His throne (Revelation 2: 10, 17, 28; Revelation 3:4-5, 12, 21)

These are unimaginable rewards and maybe difficult to fathom with our human understanding. But we need to trust God that we will reap if we do not lose heart.

My prayer is that we do not give up, but persevere until the end. May the Lord grant us the patience to wait. Amen.