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.
I’ve been in a season of waiting, of preparing for years now. And as The Lord is just now ready to launch me into something far bigger than myself, He keeps drawing me back to the book of Romans.
Romans 8:22-25: speaks of waiting in comparison to being pregnant. And as we wait, our expectation grows-just like we wait for the impending arrival of a child’s birth. There are pains and often it’s uncomfortable, but the reward is beautiful and so worth the wait! Sometimes it just takes a change of perspective to find & gain patience.
Boy, I could write the book on impatience!! Ugh!
All too often I have forced an end or a “solution”
because I am too impatient. Not very proud of that, but there it is. “My timing isn’t His. It shouldn’t be pushed on others.” How true is that?! I don’t like to be pushed, why would anyone else want to be pushed? Especially God. That is who I’m ultimately pushing because I simply can’t wait and have a little patience. And that’s why my contrived solutions backfire. It is not His timing! As some of you have pointed out before, meddling just might deny me or someone else the opportunity for growth or learning which was intended- in HIS timing. I’m a little slow on the uptake sometimes, but I’m getting it.. I guess I’ll continue to ask Him for patience! Its been at the top of “The List” for a loong time, lol!
Brandi, beautiful post!
Rhonda, Thank you for your prayers! I’m glad your daughters overcame and are doing well! :)
Lauren L, your post blessed me yesterday and continues today!
Many Blessings and gratitude for my Sisters today! Thank you Lord!
Hi, my name is Impatience, it's nice to meet you. :)
Needless to say, I felt this devo spoke to me. My greatest problem is not being patient. But God is teaching me to work with Him according to His timeline. For years I prayed for my husband to come to the Lord. When God didn't answer fast enough, I schemed and manipulated. Nothing worked. Then after 6 years, he said he accepted Jesus as his Savior. On my birthday! Rejoice! Rejoice! I thought this is it, he's going to start going to church, join a Men's Bible Study, be the spiritual leader of our family and on and on and on.
That was in 2009.
It took more years for him to finally live out that profession of faith. He is still not where I expect him to be but God has worked in his heart and I see changes. Good changes. For the better. Like only God can do.
Anyway, here's my take on the Psalm for today:
"Psalm 126:3 The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad."
There are days when I forget that. I take for granted the things that the Lord has done for me. At the very heart of it, He provided a Savior. He has freed me from the captivity of sin. Romans 6:16-19 says it beautifully:
"Doesn’t it make sense that if you sign yourself over as a slave, you will have to obey your master? The question before you is, What will be your master? Will it be sin—which will lead to certain death—or obedience—which will lead to a right and reconciled life? Thank God that your slavery to sin has ended and that in your new freedom you pledged your heartfelt obedience to that teaching which was passed on to you. The beauty of your new situation is this: now that you are free from sin, you are free to serve a different master, God’s redeeming justice.
Forgive me for using casual language to compensate for your natural weakness of human understanding. I want to be perfectly clear. In the same way you gave your bodily members away as slaves to corrupt and lawless living and found yourselves deeper in your unruly lives, now devote your members as slaves to right and reconciled lives so you will find yourselves deeper in holy living." (The Voice translation)
If I'm having a really bad day and can't find anything to be thankful for – I need to fall back on these verses. I AM FREE! No longer a slave to sin. I just need to remember that – and live like it.
Have a blessed day, sisters.
Psalm 126 is becoming my anthem for this season in life! As my husband & I pursue adopting our two little children from Africa, I have wavered in my belief that God can give me joy in the waiting. I've read this passage countless times and I became struck by the idea of being restored. In order for something to be restored, it often goes through a painful process of being taken apart, throwing broken parts away, being ground down, and THEN finally put back together. The final product is beautiful & better than what it was before. The result is joy & thanksgiving! How much greater joy would I have at the end of the process, if I was joyful during it too! My prayer for this season is that I would rest in the peace of God and rejoice in the truth that He is working on my heart to transform me more and more like Christ so that the world could have a better picture of the awesome power and grace of our God!
What a great reminder, the Israelites had to wait 40 years and it was totally worth it! So good to remember. I pray we all lean on his word and grow in patience.
Praying for patience brings more opportunities to develop the fruit of "long suffering". Clinging to the vine for dear life, letting the nourishment of the Word flow when my insides are twisted, so a trickle barely seeps through, reading how my dear sisters struggle through, these work to slowly allow green leaves appear, then the flower and at last fruit…season after season, opportunity after opportunity. Long describes any period of waiting, but through my life, I have realized that to hurry God (as if I could) or take charge ( more like: "CHARGE!") fails on more levels than I could mention. Still patience grows, year after year, the fruit develops…better the years I don't pluck it from the vine green.
One of the gifts The Lord has given me is patience. My husband, of almost 32 years in July, has commented often on this blessing the Lord has given me. As far back as I can remember, I have always been this way. Yet, The Lord in his beautiful way, never wants to see us stay where we are at; He's constantly growing us. I think our children test us in this area more than any other =). What The Lord has grown in me is….patience when you see your child choosing a path that can lead them to much heartache, pain or even death. That's the journey The Lord took me on 15 years ago. The Lord taught me that during that time with our son, which by the way, which lasted over a course of over 9 years; patience in a whole deeper level. I learned how to patiently love our son. Patiently getting up every morning not knowing how long all of this may last and yet getting through the day with joy in my heart. Patiently accepting that our situation may never change, and that I needed to trust The Lord. I remember one morning as my husband and I were lying in bed and I was weeping, I thought to myself, how can I get through another day of this intense sadness. As I got out of bed to ready myself for the day it hit me! The Lord had been preparing us for this difficult season of our lives. I had been blessed with such a wonderful, loving husband whom I adored. I had taken another job and was placed in an office with one of the most amazing woman of faith I'd ever known. Each day she would lock our doors shortly after I got to work and would pray for me and our situation. I was deeply involved in fitness (which I never had been before) so I was working out each day and releasing a lot of emotional tension as well. As I reflected that morning as I got out of bed, I thanked The Lord for our situation….it seems so odd as I write that down, but it is true. I expressed that although I didn't know the outcome The Lord would provide, I would patiently trust HIM. I learned true patience through deep suffering which has allowed me to come alongside side others on their journeys and offer them hope. Our son is 28 now and doing well. He has given us one of the greatest blessings! A granddaughter! Thank you Lord for all of the blessings you've given me. I pray that each one of these sisters in Christ feel your ever presence in their lives as they grow in your precious words.
"Because of your love." This caught my attention because. I don't over look faults too easily. I might not say anything but I definitely see them and they are always on the forefront of my mind when interacting with that person. But then the bible says to overlook them…not because they aren't there or they aren't real, but overlook them, make allowances for them BECAUSE OF YOUR LOVE. Then I had to ask myself what love or loves are we talking about and I think there are 3. Love from God put in our hearts, love for ourselves, and love for that person. Really what's important is that I love that person wholeheartedly and sincerely. That person needs love as much as I need to give it. That's what love does…it forgives, it understands, it overlooks and I think that's where spontaneous patience sprouts from.
Awesome perspective, thank you!