If you know anything about me, you know that I am NOT the most patient person in the world....It makes sense & it's the right thing to do, but it's not easy for me! If people were patient then there wouldn't be so many car accidents, rude comments to others, or people not following through with the task at hand.
Psalm 37:7-9 says, "Be Still in the presense of the Lord, and wait patiently for Him to act. Don't worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper, it only leads to harm. For the wicked will be destroyed, but those who TRUST IN THE LORD will possess the land."
I was just telling my 9 year old daughter yesterday, who is being tempted lately, to realize that satan, who is our enemy, tempts christians! He will tempt us in any way he can...BUT if we set our mind on the Word of GOD-then that is the right way to live! Any other thought that comes into our mind is WRONG!!! IF our thoughts do not line up w/ God's Word-FOR ANY REASON!!!! We are not choosing wisely! I told her when I was younger, I struggled with negative thoughts...I just accepted those thoughts and didn't realize that I could CHOOSE my thoughts! Half the time, I wasn't aware of what I was thinking about and dwelled on things or did things based out of fear! Once, we start becoming aware of what "pops" into our heads, we can evaluate those thoughts & see the deception for what it is!
Psalm 41 says, "I waited patiently for the Lord & He heard my cry"
We have to be patient with ourselves when make mistakes. And we have to be patiently waiting on the Lord & realize that He NEVER gives up on us! We give up on ourselves & Him sometimes, but HE doesn't give up on us! He is ALWAYS loving & true! I had to remind her, that she was not a BAD person because she had a thought to look on her sister's paper-what's wrong is if we take that deception from the enemy & give in to it-knowing that it's wrong. We have to quickly go to God & ask Him for strength-b/c our flesh is weak! We may even need to put up some barriers between us and that temptation!
Isaiah 43:1- " But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, they will mount up with wings as eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not faint."
Some of the best times I've ever had in life came from being still before the Lord and waiting on Him, in prayer! He truly gave me feelings that no one else could give-I felt peace, hope, joy, strength, & love that I never felt before! It really is AMAZING!!! We get distracted so easily and this world is pretty enticing BUT anything this world has to offer falls short of what we can get from God!
I went through many years though where I had experienced so MANY wonderful times with the Lord, but just took them for granted! I kept looking to see if I could find anything else that could compare to HIM.....Why do we have to keep looking and waiting????
Jesus Christ is EVERYTHING we need-there's nothing more to say or that needs to be added to that statement!!!!!!!!!
It's such a good combo! He gives us salvation-which no one else can give, but then we get to praise and worship Him for that... Worship is so incredible-b/c you feel so much better when you're able to get your eyes off of yourself & others and just focus on Him! I'm sure the Lord enjoys it though more than we do-b/c that's why we were created in the first place!!!
Psalm 86:15- "But You, oh Lord are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger & abounding in Love and faithfulness."
We don't deserve anything from God! He is the ONE who deserves for us to bow down to Him! He is compassionate toward us-which means He feels our pain & will take action on our behalf! He is gracious, when we screw up and do the wrong thing-he gives us a second chance! Slow to Anger-now there's a NEW concept! ha,ha! That melts my heart-it's hard to believe that a powerful God who could wipe us out any second for our sin-is slow to Anger....SUCH LOVE! He is faithful-always there!
This verse alone leads my desire to get to know Him better!
Romans 12:12 says, "Be joyful in Hope, patient in affliction, and fervent in prayer."
1 Thes. 5:14- "And we urge you brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, and be patient with EVERYONE"
So to sum it all up....If God is PATIENT with us, we need to be patient with ourselves and others!
