Be Patient!
"Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Colossians 3:12
Whether you are a parent or not, I am pretty sure you’ve said these words before. Be patient!!! We want what we want, and we want it now, or want it done now. Trying to teach someone, especially a little one to be patient is very rarely easy. Some people are just not wired to be patient. Their skills and abilities do not include patience or calmness.
I’m usually a pretty patient person. But there are times when I’ll be singing along in the car one minute, and the next I’m grumbling because someone is driving too slowly. One minute I’m smiling at someone in the grocery store, and the next I’m hurrying past them to get to the checkout. One minute I’m saying I’ll pray without ceasing, and the next I’m so busy that I’ve forgotten all about it.
Believe it or not, patience is a skill that can be practiced and improved on and can change your life. It can also lead to blessings beyond our wildest dreams. However, our lack of patience can cause us to miss a blessing that was designed for us. God rewards those who successfully wait on Him. And, to those that don’t wait on Him, He gives us more time to practice our patience skills. We are given many examples of this in the Bible.
Look at Abraham and his wife Sarah. God promised him that his descendants would be as numerous as the sands in the seashore. But Abraham doubted God since he and his wife were well past childbearing age. So Abraham took matters into his own hands and slept with a servant, Hagar, in order to have a baby with her and “help” God out. (The rest of the story can be found in Genesis 16.) But God had a better plan. When Abraham was 100, and Sarah was 90, their son Isaac was born, and through Isaac’s line, Jesus was born.
Isn’t it great that our God is so patient? He even allows us to have second chances. He waits patiently for us when we try following our own path and never turns His back on us. He holds us in the palm of His hands until we return to Him.
I thank God every day that He looks so closely at my heart instead of just my actions and waits patiently for my actions to reflect my heart. He isn’t patient because we deserve it, He’s patient because that’s is who He is.
So how can we share God’s love with others and not make people become impatient with us? I’ll tell you what you shouldn’t do… don’t plead, or prod or even preach to them… but be patient with them. Stop grumbling and hurrying to get past someone and give them a smile instead.
When we are patient in this extremely impatient world, we show others the One who is always patient with us.
Have a blessed day!
~Bev