Patience
Thursday
I can be a bit of a control freak. When things don't seem to be going exactly as I have envisioned, I can get a little temperamental. I have been known to be a little like Simon Peter, cut off the ear ask questions later. Unfortunately by not taking time to listen and be patient I end up apologizing a lot, especially to my children.
Sometimes when life is in the middle of its hectic schedules and responsibilities it is hard to see all of the options. It is easy to get tunnel vision and try to control everything to fit that picture. The ability to slow down or even stop becomes so much of an effort that it isn't part of the plan. There isn't time for patience. Before you know it, everything is out of control. Your schedule is so crammed with your to-do lists that even your daily planner is going to revolt. When did a 15 minute delay in our lives become long suffering?
Thank God that He is patient with us. When we are in the middle of all of the craziness and don't know what to do and finally call on His Name, He is listening.
Psalm 40:1-3 I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me and heard my cry. 2He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. 3He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear And will trust in the LORD.
When I read this Psalm I picture God picking me up out of the chaos. Chaos that I created. In life I seem to be throwing punches, screaming at the world and then I finally break down. When He pulls me out of my own pit, I see things more clearly. I see Him more clearly. Patience is knowing it will happen (God's promises) and giving it time to. I struggle with the time part. When we wait God can work. When we fill our time with our deeds and our control issues, there isn't space for God to do his work.
Planting seeds of patience. (Family Challenge)
Get your family involved in learning about patience. Find out what you can do in your lives to learn to rely first on God, resting in Him, and then making choices for your family. I challenge you to list the top 5 time stealer's in your home, replace one of them with God.
Get a little creative with you kids and teach them and yourself the beauty of patience.
You need:
- Dixie cups
- potting soil
- seeds (pick five or six different kinds) If you look at the back of the seed packet it will tell you how long it will be before you see a plant. Try and find things that are fast and slow.
Plant your seeds in the Dixie cups and water them occasionally. Wait and watch them grow. Learn to appreciate that God's amazing creativity can make something as simple as a seed, truly beautiful with nourishment and time.
October 7, 2008 at 11:00 PM
Week 4 of Sermon "Squeeze" on Fruit of the Spirit Patience.
Although Pastor Nick does a great job each week with his "word pictures" and visual aids and props, sometimes his words can be as memorable and profound as his demonstrations.
I think patience is something we ALL struggle with at some point or another in our lives, especially if you are a parent!! *LOL* But just as it was spoken in the sermon that day "it is difficult to to develop patience", although I DO KNOW it IS possible with God's help and God's grace.
I think the breaking point for me wasn't the props, nor all the reference scriptures that was within Nick's sermon that day. But within one single sentence he said towards the end of his sermon that really touched my heart very deeply and brought an uncontrollable tear to my eyes.
I have been struggling and fighting what I felt to be an up hill battle for many months and even years now. I have felt beaten down, defeated and deserted by God at times and questioned why He'd allow me and my family to suffer through the trials and agonizing hardship and adversity that we have had to suffer through.
In time I realized that God was allowing this to make us stronger and to RELY AND DEPEND ON HIM more rather than ourselves. It took me a LONG TIME to come upon that conclusion...and there are still some days I have to remind myself of that fact....but when Pastor Nick said this sentence and put it so perfectly last weekend when he said "THE LORD WILL FIGHT FOR YOU, YOU ONLY NEED TO BE STILL"....and even though that is hard to do...I've had to learn to be patient, be still and wait on HIM and let HIM be in control of the things of my life and not try to control them myself. I find HE does a much better job dealing with everything than I do!
Thanks for that profound sentence Nick....its come to be one of my favorites!!!!
October 23, 2008 at 8:22 PM
Ok....I find myself on here AGAIN...posting a blog about how God can show up in the STRANGEST places sometimes!
I picked my kids up from school today and had a dozen errands yet left to do before taking them to their karate classes by 6:00. We were rushing around, going to the libraby to print out some documents I needed to print off, then I had to go to the copy store and make some copies, run by the pharmacy and pick up a prescription...by this time I was really stressing and Bentley was bouncing off the windows of the van, both boys were fighting over the front seat....my life at that moment was total choas!!!
I decide I didnt have time to go home and cook dinner before karate so we decided to swing by McDonalds drive thru (as did every other family in Lenoir City tonight I believe)to pick up a quick dinner so I could get the boys to their classes on time.
Well, we sat there.....and we sat there.....and we sat there.....and I began to fume. My patience were GONE! I was like, how long does it take to throw a piece of meat and cheese between 2 buns and put in a sack and throw it through a window?!?!?!?
And as we sat there I began to think about what we have been talking about in church the past several weeks with the Fruits of The Spirit. And I thought to myself....PATIENCE....Milissa, YOUR fruit is PATIENCE!!!! And the longer I sat there the more I calmed down and the more I thought about it all...and I thought to myself.....yes, thats IS my fruit....MY FRUIT IS PATIENCE!
So I began to talk to the boys as we waited in this neverending line at McDonalds and we began to talk about the Fruits of The Spirit and I asked them which "Fruit" did they think they were? Which "fruit" did they feel they most needed to improve and work on it their own lives? Brion immediately said "My fruit would be KINDNESS mom".....and I looked to Bentley and asked him the same question. After singing the song to himself and thinking for a minute, he looked at me and he said, " I guess mine would be SELF CONTROL."
So I told them, now that we all have our very own Fruit that we know we need to work on to improve in our lives, we're gonna have some fun with it! This weekend, we're gonna get out our activity box and we are going to make signs to put on our bedroom doors with the fruit we each chose. Then each time we go into or out of our bedrooms those signs will be a reminder to us that we need to work on our own individual "fruits".
I know I need to work on MY FRUIT of PATIENCE....because Lord knows I lose it alot....now all I'll have to do to find it is go to my bedroom and there it will be hanging on my bedroom door!!!!! ;> ~Mil~
October 24, 2008 at 5:18 PM
I wish it were that easy, just a sign on my door and my fruit would come to me.....maybe it is though.
Look at how you handled your chaos. Instead of blowing your top, you found your fruit of patience, not by naturally having paience but by abiding in Christ. Your mental focus went to the Fruit and then conversation about the Spirit and the fruit each of you feel needs a little more presence in your lives.
Your signs are a great idea. Remember it isn't about falling short in those areas of your life but having the Fruit of the Spirit by Walking in the Spirit. Or, in other words, relying on God's Word when in need of patience, kindness or self control.