Patience

Wouldn’t we all love to have more patience in our lives? I know I would not mind developing patience as long as it doesn’t take too long to do it.

This past Sunday night the lesson was all about patience; Mike turned to me and said, “You so need to hear this.” It is true I am not a very patient person at all. Others are surprised when I admit it, they say to have four children you must have patience. Well I do have some patience for certain things. I can be more patient with Wesley than the other kids; I can be patient with other children more than my own.

I really do not have patience with most everything in my life, even the simplest things that really do not matter in the grand scheme of life can irritate me if I have to wait what I feel is too long.

There are so many things that I am impatient about/for but Sunday night’s lesson has had me thinking. A few highlights that I found interesting and reaffirming…   

James 5:7-8

When we ask for patience from God he grants it to us in the form of hardships and struggles for us to endure. We need to tell God we know what he is doing and then ask Him to show us.

To have patience is to live confidently, stay committed, centered on Christ, compassionate to others, be consist in our walk, seek comfort from fellow believers. We must live out the belief and acceptance that God is doing and working in our life to get us in our best spiritual shape.

A spirit filled life is a virtuous life filled with patience that is most difficult to learn and can only be learned best through tribulations. Patience is the ability to endure and stand strong in Him.

We ask the Father of time, creator of the universe, to hurry up, do it quickly, how about now, any time, sometime today… how is it that we think the creator of time will adjust His schedule to fit us?!? We cannot put God on our schedule of time, God is not affected by time, he is the eternal now!

The implication of patience is established in our hearts it aids to firm up our heart. When our hearts are firm we are strong hearted, confidant, courageous, we are able to stand up and hold ourselves sure in the knowledge of who God created us to be.

Confidence comes from our knowing God and having a relationship with Him, not from ourselves. Our relationship will never change; we are His children, He is love, an intercessor, peace, joy, hope, sovereign Lord, THE one in whom we have confidence. It gives us the patience, strength, courage and ability to say, “God, I do not know where this is going but I know you do, so I will cling to you”

Having patience and courage is not worrying about what is coming. It is knowing that God has already been where we are going, He knows how this ends, He has been there before and will take me.

It is like having your own personal GPS navigation system. God is the ultimate GPS, there may be delays, detours, construction, traffic jams, wrong turns, but He knows the route and will guide/show/take us there when it is time to arrive at our final destination. He is in complete control.

God orders everything for the spiritual goodness of His children in order to get us into full spiritual fitness shape. Do not get tied up in the things of this world.

God’s delays do not mean denial.

Think of it as having our own GPS system~

God’s Protection System and His word is the navigation for our life.