That is a beautiful word: they have carried, borne, burdens. You have accepted being very disadvantaged in society for my sake.
What a commendation! If all those things could be said about us and about our church, wouldn’t it be wonderful? If we could constantly go to the Lord to renew our strength and keep us from losing our eternal perspective, how good that would be!
This patience is a patience that is prepared to wait not just until tomorrow or next week, but until the world to come. It is waits on God and knows that his time is best. To lose patience is to want our reward in this life, and not to wait for heaven’s reward. But the believer sees trials as unavoidable milestones along the path that leads to glory. ‘Passion seemed to be much discontented; but Patience was very quiet … Passion will have all now this year, that is to say, in this world; so are the men of this world: they must have all their good things now, they cannot stay till next year, that is, until the next world, for their portion of good’ (Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress).