Patient Endurance
Love is patient and kind. I think we can all agree on that. Scripture says it. But can we truly pull it off?
Not in our own strength.
I want to stop wearing a mask. I’m not technically a member of the Anti-Maskers Club, but I reeeeeeally want to not wear one. I often find my semi-asthmatic self getting light-headed and having cold sweats when I wear one, and that is a little unsettling. I get a little impatient, take it off and wonder if I really have to put back on. But Love is patient and kind, so I’ve decided to consider it a spiritual discipline to wear a mask when I’m in public. I’m still waiting for God to change my heart.
Patience bespeaks trust— trust that God knows, God remembers what you asked Him for, He won’t forget, He has a plan, His timing is perfect, He has all the puzzle pieces firmly in hand so the dog can’t eat them.
Impatience is about Self/the Flesh/ the Fallen Me:
MY way, MY timing, inconveniencing ME, scuttling MY plans, MY schedule. I want to be in control of MY environment. I want to be…well…like God.
Such an old, too-familiar story. It repeats in our lives probably daily. Good thing we have a Savior!
How fast do you suppose God’s heart beats? Once a minute? An hour? A day? A year? A millennia?
If we are going to abide in the Vine, we need to ask God to tune our hearts to beat in rhythm with His. Having our hearts slowed down to God’s rhythm keeps us focused on Him so we are ready for whatever order or speed He chooses our lives to move in. It might seem that all we do is wait, and then suddenly He will drop the flag, the Spirit will shout “Go!”, and like the virgins who remembered to trim their lamps for the coming of the Bridegroom, we’ll be ready.
After my father passed away there was a delay in settling his estate. I needed to sell a property that had been left in a state of ridiculous chaos by the inhabitants (picture the site of an unruly rock concert attended by 1000 people on a 1-acre parcel and the clean-up crew hadn’t shown up for 6 months). I just didn’t know how I was going to get it cleaned up enough, and was worried that the market would drop (this was 2003) before I could get it sold at a good price.
The realtor I consulted was horrified at the condition. We started repairs and clean-up , and then that night I got a call. Apparently a neighbor who was also a realtor had called my guy and reported that Topanga State Park had declared Eminent Domain on a large parcel of land on its border and was displacing several residents. The residents were desperate to find another property in Topanga Canyon and were willing to pay almost anything. The neighbor had already been to see the house—in its state of chaos— and had 3 buyers willing to pay my asking price. We had a bidding war and sold it for more than the listed price inside of 14 hours. The winner wanted a 2 week escrow and agreed to do all the clean-up.
And I had been worried. I had been nervous. Silly me.
But God is like that sometimes, and I learned a lesson. Waiting on God has its rewards. Being patient pays off. It's a lesson I can always call to mind when I need a Spiritual Pep Talk.
God gives us “opportunities” (as Pastor Tom would say), to remember that Patience is God’s work in our hearts. He will show us where we lack it, remind us of where it payed off in the past, and give us every chance to respond to His love so that we can extend the same grace to those around us.
If we can tune our hearts to wait on God to get us where we’re going on time, bring the right person at the right time, give grace to those we love, and count on God to bless others with a saving knowledge of Him, He will bring the blessing of peace in our lives. God told Israel to trust Him and remember all that He has done. He did not lead them out into the desert to die. He took them out there to love them and allow them to know Him. We can be confident, even when we have to employ a little internal muscle to make ourselves remember, that God is for us.
No one could possibly be against us. That's a promise.
Teresa of Avila, a Carmelite nun, wrote a prayer that became known as St. Teresa’s Bookmark. It is one of those prayers I find myself repeating when times get tough. It echoes scripture beautifully and feels very personal to me. Perhaps you will like it too:
Let nothing disturb thee, nothing affright thee.
All things are passing, God never changeth.
Patient endurance attaineth to all things;
Who God possesseth in nothing is wanting.
Alone God sufficeth.
In more current language it might say something like this:
Don’t let anything knock you off course—make you angry, touchy, prickly, over-reactive;
Don’t give in to fear, but give fear to God.
Remember that the only constant circumstance in life is change—this too shall pass.
God is our un-changing rock. We can count on Him.
Spiritual patience, the fruit of the Holy Spirit, will allow God to change our hearts and bring all that is good into our lives.
When we belong to God, all that is His—everything— is also ours. We will inherit the cattle on a thousand hills.
God is sufficient to hold us fast and keep us secure. He will never leave us or forsake us. Everything that comes into our lives is solely for the purpose of forming us in the image of Christ.
Hallelujah!
Amen.
Psalm 37
1 Don’t worry about the wicked
or envy those who do wrong.
2 For like grass, they soon fade away.
Like spring flowers, they soon wither.
3 Trust in the Lord and do good.
Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
4 Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you your heart’s desires.
5 Commit everything you do to the Lord.
Trust him, and he will help you.
6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,
and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.
7 Be still in the presence of the Lord,
and wait patiently for him to act.
Don’t worry about evil people who prosper
or fret about their wicked schemes.
8 Stop being angry!
Turn from your rage!
Do not lose your temper—
it only leads to harm.
9 For the wicked will be destroyed,
but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land.
10 Soon the wicked will disappear.
Though you look for them, they will be gone.
11 The lowly will possess the land
and will live in peace and prosperity.
12 The wicked plot against the godly;
they snarl at them in defiance.
13 But the Lord just laughs,
for he sees their day of judgment coming.
14 The wicked draw their swords
and string their bows
to kill the poor and the oppressed,
to slaughter those who do right.
15 But their swords will stab their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
16 It is better to be godly and have little
than to be evil and rich.
17 For the strength of the wicked will be shattered,
but the Lord takes care of the godly.
18 Day by day the Lord takes care of the innocent,
and they will receive an inheritance that lasts forever.
19 They will not be disgraced in hard times;
even in famine they will have more than enough.
20 But the wicked will die.
The Lord’s enemies are like flowers in a field—
they will disappear like smoke.
21 The wicked borrow and never repay,
but the godly are generous givers.
22 Those the Lord blesses will possess the land,
but those he curses will die.
23 The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
He delights in every detail of their lives.
24 Though they stumble, they will never fall,
for the Lord holds them by the hand.
25 Once I was young, and now I am old.
Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned
or their children begging for bread.
26 The godly always give generous loans to others,
and their children are a blessing.
27 Turn from evil and do good,
and you will live in the land forever.
28 For the Lord loves justice,
and he will never abandon the godly.
He will keep them safe forever,
but the children of the wicked will die.
29 The godly will possess the land
and will live there forever.
30 The godly offer good counsel;
they teach right from wrong.
31 They have made God’s law their own,
so they will never slip from his path.
32 The wicked wait in ambush for the godly,
looking for an excuse to kill them.
33 But the Lord will not let the wicked succeed
or let the godly be condemned when they are put on trial.
34 Put your hope in the Lord.
Travel steadily along his path.
He will honor you by giving you the land.
You will see the wicked destroyed.
35 I have seen wicked and ruthless people
flourishing like a tree in its native soil.
36 But when I looked again, they were gone!
Though I searched for them, I could not find them!
37 Look at those who are honest and good,
for a wonderful future awaits those who love peace.
38 But the rebellious will be destroyed;
they have no future.
39 The Lord rescues the godly;
he is their fortress in times of trouble.
40 The Lord helps them,
rescuing them from the wicked.
He saves them,
and they find shelter in him.
Blessings and peace this week.
Cindy
i am very impress and it is all so true well phrase lets keep the faith up even in tragedy
ReplyDeletelord knows what is best for us.
JULIE