Waiting Patiently??

                                                                               

Romans 12:9-12 was the scripture reading for one of my recent devotionals.  What jumped out at me was one word in Verse 12 "rejoicing in hope, PATIENT in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;.." (NKJV)

 The Oxford Dictionary defines patience as "the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset."   A Biblical definition is "the ability to endure difficult people and situations without giving in to anger or giving up hope".  One writer referred to difficult people as "sandpaper people", because they can easily "rub us the wrong way." 

Love (a fruit of the spirit) requires us to  'suffer long and to be kind' (1 Corinthians 13:4a).  Put quite simply, patience is the result of the work of the Holy Spirit in us.   Romans 5:3 teaches us that "...tribulations worketh patience." (KJV).  

I was visting a church member who was in ER because she was weak from hemorrhaging.  The doctors were baffled.  She said, " I asked the Lord to take me through some things so that I could learn patience".  Well....  I, however, never ask for patience because I've already had my share of tribulations.  No, thank you.

Let's take a little reflective litmus test.

  • What is your response when God says "wait/not yet?"
  • What is your response when you are in the quick checkout lane with only a few items and the person in front of you has a shopping cart full?
  • What is your response when a fellow driver cuts you off  then "shoots you the bird?"
  • What is your response when you have your signal on to pull into a parking space in a crowded parking lot and another car swoops in and takes it?
Your responses are between you and God.  Let's endeavor to have the same kind of patience with others that the Lord has graciously extended to us...many times.

Blessings.
~CWP~

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
Photo by Levi Meir Clancey on Unsplash




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