patience

from the patience reading plan


Psalm 126; Ephesians 4:2; 1 Thess 5:14

BY Diana Stone

How often God must look down on us, hurrying and beseeching and pushing to get our way. He must smile and say to Himself, “Oh child, if you could only see what I have planned for you. Don’t rush it.”

The pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem sang His praises because they were in the midst of great blessings. God had answered years of prayers and heartache with joy.

Years. There is the key word.

When I read the story of the Israelites wandering the desert for 40 years, I often cringe inside thinking, “Wow. Many people then didn’t even live to 40, they spent their entire lives in the desert.” And yet, leader after leader showed up, obeyed God’s direction, and steered them to a place where they could rejoice and give thanks for what generations had longed for. God had a plan in the middle of what they all thought was a giant mess. He was patient with their sins because He knew if they could hold on, what He had in store would be worth it.

It simply took much longer than anyone else thought.

We are surrounded by deserts in our own lives all the time. Each of us faces reasons to become impatient, to be short with each other. In Ephesians, Paul writes, “…be patient with each other…” (Ephesians 4:2 NLT) and of all virtues, this tends to be one where I struggle the most. I can give God a few weeks, if I’m feeling generous maybe months, to work things out for me. People in my life? That needs to be almost instant.

Both cause me to stumble with my ability to love and my faith in God. My timing isn’t His. It shouldn’t be pushed on others. I need to praise Him in the desert, where my patience finds faith and clings to it when I can’t imagine what is taking so long.

Post Comments (46)

46 thoughts on "patience"

  1. Regina says:

    Love this. Prompted me to pray for God to change those feelings and actions I have that dishonor his faithfulness to me

  2. Vieve says:

    Hello! I don’t want to be nitpicky because I really love what you’re doing and think you’re doing a GREAT job! Seriously, you’re a blessing. But I just wanted to point out that when you wrote that you cringe thinking, “Wow. Many people then didn’t even live to 40,” it implies that the average life expectancy was less than 40, and that’s far from true. The average life expectancy for Hebrews then was probably about 70, maybe even longer at that time (and many OT characters lived past 100). And the Israelites who set off into the desert didn’t not make it into the promise land because they died. They didn’t get to go in because their lack of faith. That’s why God kept them wandering until that generation died off. It probably seems silly to get hung up on a seemingly small point like this, but I’ve noticed other inaccuracies like this in previous entries and felt the need to mention it because when people are reading these devotionals on YouVersion, they’re expecting a certain degree of expertise and accuracy. Whenever I catch errors like this (and huge grammatical errors), it can be distracting and make it difficult to trust what’s being said. I end up reading very carefully, making sure that I’m not being led astray or misinformed. Of course, it’s my responsibility to know what God’s word says and not yours to tell me what it says. I just wanted to offer a little conatructive criticism so that She Reads Truth can continue to thrive and improve. Thank you for what you do!

    1. Jesyka says:

      Thanks for pointing that out! Sorry for the confusion. :)

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