Be Patient

Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.

Ephesians 4:2 

 

I will be honest, I'm not exactly the most patient person.  I get irritated in traffic. I get irritated with people who want to chat with the cashier while the line waits. I get impatient with myself as well.  But God has been working on me to be more patient.  Let me tell you, it's not a fun lesson to learn.  But in learning to be patient, He has shown me that I can see all the peculiarities of the world and be okay with them...that's where happiness begins.

 

God never promised that things would always go my way, that was me trying to take God's place.  God promised to walk with me through every moment of life.  Therefore, I am learning more and more that when I am patient, I learn more, see more, and appreciate more.

Patient?

Love is patient and kind.

1 Corinthians 13:4 

 

Almost every wedding ceremony has the reading of Paul's first letter to the Corinthian Church where he lays out what Love is.  Let me very clear about this: True Love is HARD sometimes!  Why?  Have you ever tried to love someone who is in a foul mood?  Have you ever tried to love someone when YOU were in a foul mood?  Love is challenging!

 

You see, true love is NOT disposable!  True love is a daily DECISION!  Every day we must decide to love and, let's face it, some days the decision is easier to make than others.  That's why LOVE IS PATIENT!  Patience is staying in the journey for the long haul, and that is what true love is, a journey.  

 

There have been times I have been very impatient in love and the result was a lot of hurt feelings, anger, frustration, and worst of all...silence.  Why was I so impatient? Because I wanted MY way and MY way only.  Not a good way to journey.  But one of the awesome aspects of God is He is the God of second chances.  Imagine if you only had one shot at love and if you missed or messed up, "Sorry, but you lost. Thank you, enjoy your lonely life."

 

But God is not like that, instead He expects us to learn from our errors so we, hopefully, don't make the same mistakes again.  God is the God of Second Chances and THAT proves He is patient with us.

Waiting

Wait and trust the Lord.
    Don’t be upset when others get rich
    or when someone else’s plans succeed.

Psalm 37:7

Have you ever prayed for something and it seemed that your request just hovered at the ceiling?  I have.  

 

Have you ever thought "God's just not working fast enough"?  I have.

 

Have you wondered why someone else seems to move up faster than you when you believe that you are working twice as hard as they are?  I have too.

 

Something I have learned, and am still learning the hard way, is that God always answers our prayers according to get us in a position where His plans for us will work as perfectly as He designed them.

 

Think of it this way....you have a hankering for an orange.  You plant a seed and you can have all the oranges you want.  You water the seed and tend to the soil and check every single day to see if the oranges are ready yet.  You get angry because you wanted the orange but the orange tree hasn't given you any.  Why?  Because all the processes to make the oranges, make the limbs strong enough to hold the oranges, and for the oranges to ripen enough to eat, have not been completed yet.

 

We live in a world of instant gratification.  If I want something to eat, I can go to the store and get it.  But if I want to advance my career, I can't just go to the store and walk out with a promotion and a raise.

 

You see, God has orchestrated everything in the entire universe and time to put you in just the right place to fulfill your place in His perfect plan.  This does not mean that will like having to wait.  We probably won't like waiting while all the pieces get put into place.  We may not like waiting....  But the end results will blow your mind!