I had a hard time getting that word out. It's not that I hate the word...I
just... hate the exercise. And yet, over and over and over again, I find myself
at a place all too familiar, one of needing to exercise it. A place of
waiting. Waiting on people...waiting on answers...waiting on my 2 year
old to put his toys away...waiting at stoplights...waiting at the Dr's
office or the DMV...currently in our house, waiting for life to return to "normal" after a major health problem. Whether waiting on big things or little
things, it seems most of my life is spent in that place I really don't like to
be. But, if God is in the details of my life (which I truly believe Him to
be!), then obviously He MUST see this waiting time as valuable, because He
has me do it so often! Truth be told, I KNOW He sees it as valuable. He allowed
many others ahead of me to wait years and years for things. Noah worked and
waited 100 years to finish the ark. Abraham and Sarah waited for years
for their son and God's promise to be fulfilled. David was promised the
Israelite kingdom but had to wait years until Saul was off the scene, much of
that time on the run for his life. The Israelites waited 40 years in the
wilderness, and then later, hundreds and hundreds of years for their
Messiah to come. Jesus waited 33 years to finish the one thing He came to
accomplish on earth. Paul waited in prison. I'm in good
company, aren't I?!
All of these waiting times that could seem like, from a human perspective... a
waste of time, and yet, it's obvious that God sees them as valuable or He
wouldn't have ordained them.
So I turn to the only place I
need to go when I have questions about all the big and little things in life.
And there I find A LOT about waiting...
Psalm 37:7 "Rest in the Lord and WAIT PATIENTLY for Him..."
Isaiah 40:31 - "They that WAIT upon the Lord shall renew their
strength..."
Romans 5:3-5 - "...but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that
tribulation worketh PATIENCE; and PATIENCE, experience; and experience, hope:
and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our
hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."
Hebrews 12:1 - "...let us run with PATIENCE the race that is set before
us..."
James 1:3-4 - "...the trying of your faith worketh PATIENCE. But let
PATIENCE have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting
nothing."
And so I am reminded once again that God, in His perfect way
that only He can, takes something like a simple, mundane "waste of
time" waiting period and makes something beautiful out of
it...Perfect. Entire. Wanting {lacking} nothing... That's why God sees it as valuable. Because if the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, then anything that brings me closer to Him and makes me look a little more like Him is precious.
Hopefully, what is produced at the end of all of this waiting is a more beautiful, a more Christ-like, a more patient version of me. And that makes the waiting worth-while.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
P...P...Patience
Posted by Cherie at 12:36 PM
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