Yesterday went well I must say. I cracked a good deal at work, I had my hair done, got a manicure and had a lovely me time in the evening. I had decided I would go see Steve get all this stuff out of my system face to face. It was going to be a surprise. But as I went to bed I thought about it and decided to text. He replied and said he is coming over to town so we can meet on Tuesday. I did not reply immediately, slept and prayed over it. In the morning I texted him and told him “K”. But as I left the house I thought otherwise and decided to carry my stuff and just go visit him. So I called him and he told me that he is actually coming over, so there is no much need for me to go. I tried coming up with an excuse that we cannot meet because of one or two things on the day he had chosen. But when I got to the office and thought about it, honest I remembered something I had read about patience.
A train was filled with tired people. Most of them had spent the day
traveling through the hot dusty plains and at last evening had come and
they all tried to settle down to a sound sleep. However, at one end of
the car a man was holding a tiny baby and as night came on the baby
became restless and cried more and more. Unable to take it any longer, a
big brawny man spoke for the rest of the group. “Why don’t you take that
baby to its mother?” There was a moment’s pause and then came the reply.
“I’m sorry. I’m doing’ my best. The baby’s mother is in her casket in
the baggage car ahead.” Again there was an awful silence for a moment.
Then the big man who asked the cruel question was out of his seat and
moved toward the man with the motherless child. He apologized for his
impatience and unkind remark. He took the tiny baby in his own arms and
told the tired father to get some sleep. Then in loving patience he
cared for the little child all through the night
Romans 12:12 (New International Version)
12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
2 Peter 1:5-7
And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and
to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance
patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly
kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
Patience is one of those attributes that you cannot learn by reading
about it. It’s a quality that can only be acquired by persistent,
enduring, practice- The best way to learn patience is to be patient.
That’s something we all have to practice daily.
The original Webster’s dictionary offers this definition of patience:
“the suffering of afflictions, pain, toil, calamity, provocation or
other evil, with a calm, unruffled temper; endurance without murmuring
or fretfulness, from a kind of heroic pride, or from a Christian
submission to the divine will.”
Now that’s easier to say than to practice. “Endurance without
murmuring”. I, for instance, get so frustrated when someone is late for
an appointment… counting the wasted minutes when I could have been
doing something useful! Yet, what an opportunity for me to choose to
quench the inner fumes – and use the delay to work on my patience!
The other thing that we all struggle with is, “a Christian submission to
Gods divine will.” How many times are we placed in a difficult position,
or forced to deal with an “impossible” situation? Or perhaps an
“impossible” person? These circumstances are always opportunities to
grow in patience – or to learn to submit to God’s providential will, and
often, to minister in some special or unique way. Some things God allows
us to go through for the sake of saving our own life. It’s like the
missionary who did not receive her monthly check. She was seriously ill
and because of no money had to live on oatmeal and canned milk. She
received her check thirty days later. She eventually went to see a
doctor and after explaining what she had been feeding on because of her
delayed check, the doctor asked the nature of her illness. She described
the intestinal digestive trouble she had been having and the doctor
said, “If your check had arrived on time and you had been eating your
current
diet you would now be dead, because the best treatment for your
illness was a thirty-day oatmeal diet.”
You know, our problem is that we do not wait upon the Lord. We forget
that it’s through faith and patience that we obtain God’s promises.
Is your patience being tested today? Great! Remember, love is (first of
all) patient. [1 Corinthians. 13:4] The Lord is training you toward
godliness — and godliness is moving toward perfect love. With so much
work to be done, He is really wanting to work this quality into your
character now — to perfect your love, and with it to transform the
world around you for His glory
PRACTICAL APPLICATION
Love is first patient, so be patient with everyone, but above all, be
patient with yourself.
Yeah and all senses came back to me. I need to be patient with my self. I am over rushing all things. I have prayed and I believe God hears my prayers so lets wait and see. So I texted him, told him its ok, I will wait we shall meet and see where it goes..God help
. Life has away of throwing the worst at you when your really giving it your best, and that pains more. When your trying to change your ways and no one seems to be giving you a chance. When your in need of a friend and that is the time they all seem to be doing a runner. When all the bills come and your account seems to be having holes and you cannot be able to pay the bills. When everyone seems to be having an easy time, and things are working for them. Yes that is life.
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