Be Patient

Have you ever been told to be patient? The person speaking is usually slightly annoyed right? Was it your parents? I have become my parents. I feel as though this is our daily mantra around the house. I'm trying to replace it, but it is quite difficult. "Boys be patient". "Stop interrupting and be patient". "Be patient with your brother". "Hold on. Wait a few minutes, ok?". I have come to the conclusion that one of two things is the case. Either I am not being patient enough or my kids are way to demanding - or maybe both!

Or perhaps you struggle with patience in your marriage. It can be tough to wait on those answers to your prayers. We may be tempted to get ahead of God and not consider our spouse in our decision-making at times. Impatience can make our relationships extremely frustrating!

But...how do you think God feels? He sees the end from the beginning, yet he waits for us to "get it". We are God's children and He has patience that makes no human sense. It is one of the reasons that Jesus has not yet returned. He is patient in waiting for folks to repent. Very patient! How amazing and truly merciful of Him! We are mere humans with such selfish tendencies and yet, God has amazing grace towards us.

The Bible tells us to let patience have her perfect work in us. There is a fruit of the spirit that can only be developed through this process - this one. Let it work. Don't always take the stance of "poor me". It's fruitless right? How horrible would it be if a farmer worked so hard during crop season, went through such a rough time to grow some plants that should bear fruit and ended up with nothing. Nothing to show for all his efforts. That is what it is like for us to complain through the hard seasons. We discover that it has not formed anything in us. We have no fruit in that season. God wants to use every single thing that we go through to make His name great and to get the glory that He is due.

So if God Himself shows such great patience to us, shouldn't we show patience with others? We can be patient with our children and with our spouse. We can be patient with co-workers and that person driving in front of us. We can be patient in the store and as we wait on the phone.

Remember, it's not about you, it is about what the Lord wants to form you into.

Be patient. Learn how to suffer long.

Are you scared to pray for Longsuffering?

Are you scared? I could see why. I have even heard clergy tell people to be careful what they pray for because God might actually give it to you. We don't like suffering, especially suffering long. Why pray for that? Is is really necesssary?

The Bible tells us that love suffers long (I Corinthians 13:4) and we also read that longsuffering,or patience, is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians5:11).

God empowers us to do the hard things.

Marriage is hard. Raising children is hard. Getting a degree is hard. Living a holy life is hard. However, they are all worth it. Let me encourage you today. Don't be so focused on what you may have to go through in this life. The Bible tells us repeatedly to focus on glory and to put our hope and treasures in eternal things. All you see and experience in this life is temporary and fleeting - so is longsuffering.

If you are married, God has especially graced you with a partner to go through life with. Think of yourselves as a team. You are not alone. Your partner is with you and you have the power to:

1. Pray Together. There have been times when one of us has been so overwhelmed and then the Lord reminds us that we are stronger and our prayers are more effective together. So we stop and pray.

2. Read the Word Together. This is a powerful thing. The Word itself has power and reminding each other of the Word of God is life! Nothing your spouse says is more powerful than what God says.

3. Fight Together. Don't fight against each other. Fight your mutual enemy with the Word together! The Bible tells us that one can put a thousand to flight and two cna route ten-thousand!

The enemy is no match for a couple that works together to defeat him in Jesus name!

So...yeah, you may have to suffer some, but sweet victory awaits you at the finish line. We can take up our crosses and follow Christ no matter the cost. This is what it means to be His disciple!

Wait for it

In just a moment....

Hold on.....

Just give me a second.....

Do these sound like familiar phrases? All of us have been on the waiting side and some of us have been on the "hurrying to serve" side of impatience. Patience is a virtue as they say. You have probably also heard that good things come to those who wait. Both true, but not easily accomplished, right?

However, some of the bestest things (yes, bestest) are worth the wait! A brand new baby, a newly built home, a college degree, sex (yup...it's worth it!). It is the value that we place on the "longed-for thing" that makes it such a delight after we have waited for a while - suffered and pained for its arrival.

It truly is our flesh that makes us so impatient at times. It demands its own way always. We are like this from birth and some of us never grow out of it.

Maurice and I met online and we waited months and months before we ever met face to face. In was in this waiting period that we grew to know each other on more than just a surface level. I believe that it was a deeper relationship without the physical elements. You see, patience is a spiritual fruit. It thrives in the spiritual realm, not the physical one. Learning to wait patiently is just one level. Being joyful while you wait is quite another. So we waited to meet and took our time to get to know one another and then when we were sure, we hurried to marry - primarily because we had waited to have sex and to live together.

There is a song called "I don't mind waiting". I never used to sing it because it was a lie. I DID mind. I minded waiting a lot. I figured that is was time for some things in my life and God was not getting the memo. Thank God that before I jumped into situations that could have ruined my witness, I discovered the power of learning from the mistakes of others! The Bible encourages this when we are reminded about the children of Israel in the book of Joshua. God tells the next generation to learn from their predecessors (who died in the wilderness complaining) so that they could enter the Promised Land that He already promised.

I encourage anyone to not rush what God is taking His time to prepare and make just right for you. 

Jesus gave instructions about communion in I Corinthians 11:34. If people were too impatient to wait for their shared meal at church, they should eat at home. The practice of communion, or The Lord's Supper is a sacrament today. In many church, the entire group eats and drinks together to remind them of Jesus' broken body and spilled blood on the cross. So in context, some church people were just hungry and did not wait.

They fed the physical and starved the spiritual. 

Why would you rush a chef that is baking or a surgeon that is working in his gift? It makes no sense right? You could buy a house built on sand or have a custom-built brick one. You could quickly buy a college degree certificate or actually go through the process of earning a real one. We appreciate less what others only half-heartedly prepare, so let's not be impatient. It is not worth it. If you are struggling with this, pray to God for a change of your own heart. Ask the Lord to grow patience in you and He will. Then wait for it.