a lesson in patience

Wowzers! It's been several days.

Sometimes it seems unbelievable how quickly time passes.  Here we are already at the end of February.  This weekend I went to the Worth the Wait Revolution Gala.  The theme was "The Elegance of Purity", one of the things that all of the panelists echoed was the importance of waiting on God's timing and being content and patient.  Like so many of us, I'm impatient and want everything now.  When I began this journey 23 days ago, I wanted to have resolved all of my issues in 40 days.  It seems like I haven't even identified all of my issues yet, let alone solve them...lol.  I can say, God has revealed many of them to me and certain mistakes and temptations I have avoided repeating to God be the glory, but there are still many that I have to get in check.

Now, don't get me wrong, I know that spiritually we are free the moment we receive Jesus, but it takes a bit longer to get the soul (which is our mind, will and emotions) and body to get in line with the spirit.  That is the process.  Obedience to God certainly helps us along in this process, but nonetheless, even learning to consistently obey the voice of God is a process.  You have to train yourself to do it.  So, as I take this journey I'm realizing that this journey requires patience.  In 1st Corinthians chapter 13, the love chapter, the first characteristic of love is that it is patient.

In Matthew 22:37-40, when asked what the greatest commandment is Jesus replied as follows:
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  So, if the greatest commandments involve loving God, others and yourself, and the first characteristic mentioned about love is patience.  Then, what does that infer about the importance of being patient with God, others and yourself?


To me it says, that God knew exactly how impatient we had the potential to be.  He knew that we would want to rush Him and His plan for our lives, that we would lose patience with our neighbors, and that we would not even be patient enough with ourselves to allow our minds to be renewed in Him and train our soul to love the way He has commanded.  So, He defines love with patience first because He knew if we were ever to truly understand love, we have to understand patience.  Think about how God expresses His love for us through patience.  Not that our delayed obedience and disobedience is without consequence, but He never forces anything upon us, He patiently lets us make the choice and when we make the wrong choice, God is still there patiently waiting for us to repent and do things His way.  


So, wherever you are on your journey remember to just keep focusing on Jesus and walking with Him and you'll stop being concerned with timing and losing patience and will find yourself in God's perfect timing and plan for you.