Waiting
is no fun.
It wastes our valuable time, crowds our schedule with backed up
responsibilities, tries our patience, and puts us in a bad mood. I used to hate
to wait. My mate always arrives everywhere early; therefore, I wait most of the
time.
In
our society, we wait at airports, grocery lines, doctor's offices, traffic, for
meetings to start, for people to arrive - rarely on time, etc. I used to end up
grouchy, frustrated and even angry at times, when I had to wait.
During
one period in my life, God's Spirit led me to focus on His fruit of kindness. I
am basically a kind person, but at times I do and say unkind things. So I
really needed intense work in this department. As I focused on kindness, God
showed me a secret.
Patience
is the root of all the fruit of the Spirit. If we are impatient we do not show
kindness, love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, meekness or faith either. Yet,
when His fruit of patience operates in our thoughts, permeating our soul, we
can more easily and readily express all of the other fruit of the Spirit.
Patience
does her perfect work in us and prepares and equips us to accomplish every good
work to which God calls us to perform (James 1:4-8). We learn to rest in the
Lord, so that we do not fret or allow anxiety to ruin our life (Psalm 37:7).
I
learned to bring a book to read or needlework to concentrate on while waiting; or to greet people in lines and
offices, and to listen to them as they share their needs and feeling; to pray
for my list of those needing answers from God; to reread my 3x5 cards
containing verses I am attempting to focus on and to remember; and to praise
God for His goodness and grace, as well as for His little hugs and acts of
kindness toward me all day long.
As
we continually wait on the Lord, and focus on allowing patience to shroud our
soul, then kindness and serenity permeate our thoughts, words and actions
(Hosea 12:6). His strength in us is our stronghold, and it gives us courage to
face every trial (Psalm 27:14).
Prayer:
Father
God, when we learn to wait on You in Your timing and Your way as we accomplish
all that You call us to do, we find Your grace to help us (Psalm 123:2). Teach
us to patiently wait on You like a servant who waits on the bidding of his/her
master (Psalm 25:5). Like a farmer, we wait for the harvest that You provide
for us each day. We anticipate Your coming, which is certainly nearer each day
(James 5:7-8; Titus 2:13).
We
know that You wait on high, longing to be gracious to us, and to show us
compassion and unconditional love in every area of our life. We are blessed
among all of humanity when we long for You as well (Isaiah 30:18). We maintain
our hope in Your provision, and we do not look to our human reasoning, or to anyone
else, to bless us or to satisfy the needs of every living thing (Jeremiah
14:22; Psalm 145:15-16).
Thought
for the Day:
We
watch expectantly for the Lord, we wait for Him who is our help and shield, and
we persevere in our hope in Him, and in the encouragement from Our Savior and
King; as we also trust in His Word and rely on His Spirit every moment of our
day and night.
-
Psalm 33:20; 130:5; Micah 7:7
