This afternoon as I sit here thinking, drinking some coffee to warm up a bit more I see all those years when I used to have the lead foot. Every journey was taken to be a race. I would zip around in my car, weaving in and out of traffic. Other drivers were mere obstacles in my way. I saw the estimated times of arrival on my GPS to be nothing more than a challenge; How many minutes could I shave off my time? The outward effect of speeding was obvious; I received speeding tickets, oh yes I did, shameful! What I was unaware of, however, was the inward toll that such impatience was having. Internally, my spirit was never at peace. My heart and my mind were always projected onto a journey I had to rush into. I was time-bound, ruled by the clock. Thus, I was never present. I wasn’t present to others; I wasn’t present to myself. Nor was I ever fully or truly present to God. After all, it’s hard to be present to God when you are too busy speeding to the next thing. This was me for so many years, learning how to slow it down was HUGE for me
Patience is not easy for everyone; in fact, it is a struggle for everyone to some degree. The fact is that we are all sinners, and patience does not come naturally to us. However, when we have the gift of the Holy Spirit, we can live out the fruit of the Spirit I always hear that it is a dangerous prayer to ask God for patience because you do not know how He will answer that. Will it be waiting in terrible traffic, being patient with people, or learning that we do not get what we want when we want it even after we pray and pray?
The process of patience refines us and takes us on a journey of learning to trust in God. When we pray for patience, we are asking boldly for the Lord to give us more confidence in who He is regardless of what we see. We are asking Him to help us slow down and believe that He cares for us and our individual needs and desires. Today, let’s go to His throne and ask Him to grow us in this amazing way.
Have a good Afternoon