Glory Seed Devotional’s, 2017: Anticipating and Experiencing God...
Impatience…
Shalom!
“Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.” (Psalms 62:5-7 NLT)
Waiting is not my forte. “I wish you would slow down and walk with me,” Patti used to say many years ago. But as it would have it the fickle-finger-of-fate has sense put the shoe on the other foot because now I am the one walking slow. And a fringe benefit of being a victim of the fickle-finger-of-fate I have been forced to adapt my face paced lifestyle to one of patience. My motto has gone from “catch me if can” to “slow down and smell the roses” which goes against our lifestyle in 2017.
Peter in his second letter gives us a little insight in how God can be so patient with us, “But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.” (2 Peter 3:8, NLT) And if it is true we are created in the image and likeness of God is it then not true we have built in us the capacity be patient? I would like to think that is true however, we are taught impatience babies we cry and immediately someone rushes to take care of us. And so, begins our life of impatience unchallenged until the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our lives with the Gifts that completely change our lives.
“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” (Galatians 5:22–23, NLT) There is a tendency to understand patience as standing around or sitting while waiting for things to get better. However, I believe Isaiah has a better way of understanding patience when he writes, “Seek the LORD while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.” (Isaiah 55:6, NLT) And we know according to chapter 29 of Jeremiah when we seek God he will let us find him and once He lets us find Him waiting then becomes a matter of Hope, Hope not in a solution but Hope that God knows what is best for us and is working it out.
Back in July when I discovered pulmonary fibrosis had gotten worse I went on a 26-day prayer vigil which only increased my impatience resulting in no change. The other day while reflecting on it I became aware that I had sought a blessing from prayer not from God. It is God who ignites the slow burning embers of patience that warm and sustain us until God does what God does best, Bless us according to His ultimate plan for our lives.
“May God be merciful and bless us. May his face smile with favor on us.” **
Grace and PEACE,
Gary
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“Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.”
**Psalm 67:1, New Living Translation
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