I appreciated Dan’s story about the Wycliffe translators and their work to the two tribes in Mexico. It reminded me of a college professor I had in school who also was a Wycliffe translator, Mr. Clark. Mr. Clark worked alongside his family in Papua New Guinea, slowly translating the book of John in the tribe’s native tongue for 11 years. He spent two years just learning the language and building relationships with the people on the island. His stories were fascinating, but also extremely telling - if you didn’t have the patience to endure the tediousness and time it took to translate, then this probably was not something you would want to pursue.

However, one thing that was true of Mr. Clark was that through patience, he had given and received an abundance of grace. Learning a tribal language, moving his family to a remote island, spending 11 years to translate, and ultimately finishing the task, he had seen the Lord move on the island just as Dan told us about the tribes in Mexico. While it would have been amazing to hear that the tribes believed in Christ quickly, it was God’s plan for them (and the translators) to be given the Gospel over time, and probably multiple times.

Often, patience and grace are seen together. God’s patience with us is grace. He gives us second chances all the time. He teaches, rebukes, disciplines, but ultimately, there is always grace seen in Him and by Him. He is patient with us, not letting us fall into despair, but provides hope in His Son, Jesus. By Jesus’s example, we see Jesus patiently endure all sorts of temptations, wrongs, and ultimately death on the cross. His patience is our grace. Hebrews 4:14-16 says, “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” In times of despair, remember that Jesus has and is going through this with you.

~Chelsea Warren