Be patient therefore, brethern,
unto the coming of the Lord.
Behold the husbandman waiteth
 for the precious fruit of the earth,
and hath long patience for it,
until he receive the early and latter rain. 2 Peter 1:6

During the back-end of the year, many a  gardener will be planting a variety of bulbs and seeds.  The seed will be buried in the cold dark soil and there it will lie hidden as the winter winds howl and the earth hardens like iron.  The frost will come as well as snow, and all around will look dead and forlorn.  The eye almost fainting for the sight of some greenery.  Yet the gardener will wait patiently over the winter months trusting that his bulbs will be putting forth a network of fine roots deeply into the soil, feeding on the nutrients in the earth.  Then one winter's day peaking out through snow will be bright green shoots with the promise of Spring.  As the winter passes by the bulbs will bloom and the long winter's wait will be over.

So it is with our souls; God has planted seeds of promise that will flourish in His time.  Sometimes we feel we are just making it, struggling to be true to His word. We serve Him by obedience, or because we just know that this is the right thing to do.  Within ourselves we see no change, we get weary and just cling to His promises.  But as surely as the mud fish who lies baked in the river bed waiting for the rain to come,  we too need to  wait in patience.  The rain will come and all will flourish as promised.

Patience can have another meaning, one where a person retains their temper or tolerates either a disagreeable situation or person/s.  People can be a terrible irritation to our peace of mind, especially when they act contrary to our belief's or ethical views.  Some are abrasive and constantly rubbing us up the wrong way.  The oyster knows how to cope with such as these.  It does not cast the irritation aside but rather turns it over and over carefully coating it lovingly with care.  The irritation never leaves but becomes less annoying and eventually a the oyster for its patience brings forth a beautiful pearl.  Pearls are often called tears; tears of suffering that produces a wonder of nature, the iridescent lustre of mother of pearl; all the colour's of the rainbow mirroring the promises of God.