Let Me Be Patient ...

Selected lyrics from "Tell Him", a song by Lauryn Hill. Songwriter: Andy Colline

 

Waiting around ...

I must admit, I sometimes get a little tired now of sitting around and waiting for things to restart after lockdown. I'm sure I am not alone. And yet, I understand why, in many cases, the time isn't right to start things up again. It could be dangerous to rush in an effort to find 'normal' again. Any steps taken must be small ones...

As a 'doer', it's not so easy to simply stop and wait for the right time.

Perhaps it's because the verb 'to wait' has such a negative connotation for many of us, self-included. Here's two definitions:

1. stay where one is or delay action until a particular time or event: "he did not wait for a reply" Note: synonyms: stand by, hold back, be patient, bide one's time, hang fire...

2. used to indicate that one is eagerly impatient to do something or for something to happen: "I can't wait to tell Nick what happened"

The Territorial Commander's recent video on the subject explains 'waiting' and how we can and should react far more eloquently than I ever could. Have a look and a listen to it; fifteen minutes that may make a difference to you. 

Click on the YouTube link here ...

O is for Obedience

This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently, obeying his commands and maintaining their faith in Jesus.

Revelation 14:12 (NLT)

Meanwhile, the saints stand passionately patient, keeping God’s commands, staying faithful to Jesus

Revelation 14:12 (The Message)

Extra Grace Required

The email in my inbox was a direct challenge to me. I knew it as soon as I read it. It virtually leapt off the screen at me!

You see, it was talking about all those people who persistently wind you up. They seem to be there solely to try your patience. Some people talk about people who continually exhibit Challenging Behaviour. Others use more colourful metaphors...

In the email I mentioned above, Rick Warren called them EGRs, which stands for 'Extra Grace Required'. And I don't have any trouble in thinking of an example or two under that category.

These are the sort of people that threaten to drive you crazy.

But they need you. And they need God.

So, He sends me to them. 

And my challenge? Not to get out of their way as quickly as possible. Oh no...

No, it is to try and understand. To look past their behaviour and try to help.  Because they may not even know that their behaviour is challenging!

And I need to learn to continually respond with patience. With love.

Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 
(Colossians 3:13, NLT).

Inside

I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. 

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. 

He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in him.

Psalm 40:1-3 (NIV)

Patience

"Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. 
  Never make a negative decision in the low time. 
  Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. 

  Wait. 

  Be patient. 
  The storm will pass. 
  The spring will come."

Robert H Schuller

Sing

Colossians 3:12-17 (NIV)

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

More Questions Than Answers

"There are more questions than answers
Pictures in my mind that will not show
There are more questions than answers
And the more I find out the less I know
Yeah, the more I find out the less I know"

(song, written and recorded by Johnny Nash)

I've been mulling over some of these tricky questions over the last week. And it's so true - every answer seems to bring with it further questions! That final, ultimate answer never seems to be within my grasp, it's so elusive...

Add into the mix the fact that I'm been a little unwell during the week; it's clear that I've been overdoing things a little which is why my head's been everywhere and my emotions all over the place. Sadly I'm never a good patient so I must give my perfuse apologies to my family, too! But knocking me over for a while did give me time to take stock of my life and put things back into context.

I'm feeling a bit better now - mostly because I've taken a few hours off and reduced the number of commitments in my day - but partly because I've realised that I've been trying too hard to reach that elusive answer. The following quotations kind of sum this up - these was a couple of words of wisdom I stumbled across:

"Try to love and live the question itself. Don't search for the answer. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer." - Rainer Maria Rilke

"I don't pretend we have all the answers. But the questions are certainly worth thinking about..." - Arthur C. Clarke

What do you think?

Waiting

Psalm 40:1-2 (NIV UK)
"I waited patiently for the Lord ; He turned to me and heard my cry.   He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand."

It's been a busy weekend. I have (once again!) crammed so many things into two days that I feel exhausted just thinking about it.

Because, every day, I've been challenged.

On Friday night, when I was very low, He reminded me that I was remembered and loved by Him even when others had scattered and things were looking awfully bleak...

Then on Saturday I was challenged to once again acknowledge other people's struggles. You might think you have it tough - others go through similar problems - some, even worse...

This was followed up on Sunday by a terrific but very personal assurance of His own promises to me. A reminder that I don't face these things alone. He's there with me; He knows what I need. A personalised acknowledgement card from the Almighty. He's on the case!

I'm still waiting for some of these promises to be fulfilled. But I know the answers are almost here.

I'm waiting patiently.

Pray Until Something Happens

Occasionally I will wear a wristband with the letters P U S H printed on it. The initials stand for 'Pray Until Something Happens'. However, this isn't meant to be a showy adornment to my wardrobe. I use it when I need a reminder that some problems in life take persistent prayer to overcome them; this then prompts me to further prayer.

Do you ever get exasperated because some prayers seem to take so long to get answered? Issues that perhaps you have been praying about for quite a while... months? Years?

Why God doesn't answer prayer straightaway? Does the Lord have issues with some of the things that you and I are praying for? Psalm 37:4 tells us ...

'Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart..'

That does not mean He will give you the best car, the nicest house in the street; lots of material things. That's not the way He works. He isn't concerned with such things. Instead, He wants you to 'delight' in Him, to spend time with Him in prayer and Bible study.

Prayer isn't an opportunity for you or I to give God a prayer 'shopping list' of needs and wants. Prayer isn’t a highly sophisticated magic trick, a supernatural means of achieving a fast track to success in life. It's somewhere where we are brought to humbly realise we cannot control the universe or bend it to our will. We cannot control the Almighty. There are no magic words, gestures, mental attitudes or verbal gymnastics that we can use to get the Lord to do what we want.

And yet, the Bible contains the marvellous news that God has promised to give you the desires of your heart... Psalm 37 continues ...

'Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.'(vs 5-7)

"Wait patiently for Him." I accept that God works things out according to His own perfect timing. I therefore need to trust God, have patience and not to worry. He loves to give us good things. However, sometimes God has to put the right people in the right place before He can deal with the request. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says...

'There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.' 

So God's answer to your prayer may include a period of time before He reveals his response. In our House Fellowship we have been studying the book of Esther; the account reveals that it took quite a long time for God to get Esther into a position of influence for 'such a time' that He could use her to save her people.

I am encouraged to trust in God and allow Him time to work things out in my life. I need to make myself available to Him; allow Him to use me.

Try this: write down your prayers and keep it somewhere safe. Then, come back to it in six months time or a year's time; reflect on God's amazing provision for you, how far He has brought you in that period. God is faithful, trust Him. Trust His perfect timing.

Patience: The Story So Far

"Lord, give me patience - and now!"

This is, I must admit, something that I really struggle with. I don't know whether this is a side effect of the society that we find ourselves in - perhaps it goes with the fast food and email culture - but it really bugs me that so many people think you can pull the stops out and turn something around in no time at all.

It's funny, but when you do 'go the extra mile' for someone, they seem to think nothing of it.

And yet, when I ask for something to be done quickly, everyone seems to invariably drag their feet.

I've been reviewing the number of times I've blogged on 'patience' and find this in the tenth time I've done so over the last three years. Guess I'm not there yet on this one. Yet.

"God's way of answering the Christian's prayer for more patience, experience, hope and love often is to put him into the furnace of affliction." - Richard Cecil

"Have patience with all things, But, first of all with yourself." - Saint Francis de Sales

Suffering Longer... And Longer

Galatians 5:22-23 (New International Version)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

I've blogged about 'forbearance' before. The quality which is sometimes translated as 'long-suffering'. And it's a quality I'm thinking about a lot today. Sometimes it's little things, perhaps even trivial. Like when you take the effort to post a comment on Facebook revealing deep feelings and friends can only think of making jokes or even rude comments about it. More irritating than suffering, perhaps.

Sometimes it's a long term thing, like withstanding persistent and constant sarcasm or trying to succeed when conditions are less than satisfactory. It's so not fair. But you keep on going.

One definition of the term states this as "patiently enduring wrongs or difficulties". Patiently. Even though you may be wronged, you have to endure it. And keep patient at the same time!

It's not easy, but God's there to see you through it. It's character building! I keep coming back today to the following verses:

1 Peter 5:6-10 (New International Version)
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

I'm looking forward to the restoration. Be strong, not long to wait. Just a little while, now... :)

Waiting...

Psalm 27:14 (New International Version)
Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.

Psalm 27:14 (The Message)
Stay with God! Take heart. Don't quit. I'll say it again:
Stay with God.

Seeking Perfection - part two

Part two of my thread on perfection centres more on the subject I touched on briefly last time - that of procrastination. Seeking to be better in any area of your life is often a challenge, so it's no wonder that people so often put things off. Like tidying that cluttered room in your house! Sometimes it's a case of not knowing where to start - sometimes it's trying to finding the right time, the right circumstances.

The recent email about seeking perfection (remember my blog entry last time?) recalled a talk on the subject by Pastor Rick Warren, leader of a church in Southern California. A procrastinator, he said, is nothing more than a frustrated perfectionist. The logic went something like this:

• A perfectionist is convinced to prove his or her worth by being perfect - to seeking to attain perfection.
• The fear of being unable to achieve that prefection leads to procrastination.
• Procrastination eventually leads to paralysis. You know what you need to do, even how to do it, but because you can't complete that first part well enough, you end up doing nothing.

Do you end up doing nothing because you feel what you do would be less than perfect? There is a way forward...

1. Realise that no one is perfect - no-one but God. You don't be afraid to make a mistake. Remember the quotation from Albert Einstein:  "A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. "

2. Let go and let God! If it is outside of your control, then why not let God handle those things. It takes a lot of faith to let go of those things over which we have no control. Faith like that described in Hebrews 11:1.

3. Learn to be content in your current situation. Life can't be lived in some far-off perfect future. It must be lived today, which means in less than perfect circumstances. Accept that. Love the moment, and enjoy the journey. Dump the pressure that says you must be perfect to be accepted. Just listen to the following quotation: "I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do." (Edward Everett Hale)

The bottom line is - if you are seeking perfection, forget it. What you need to do is seek progress. Why not try and take the first step. Even if you fall over, you have probably gained a couple of steps in the process. Then pick youself up and take another, and another. Before you know it, you will be making terrific progress. Not perfection, but progress!

Seeking Perfection - part one

We are all encouraged to do the best we can do in all that we do. However, a recent email on the subject of perfection has set me off thinking.

I wouldn't ever claim to be a perfectionist. Take the house for example. I do try to instill some semblance of order to my household (the phrase 'a place for everything, and everything in its place' has almost become my catchphrase, it's such a cliche amongst the family), but with a family of four and so many competing commitments for each of us vying for our attention, sometimes achieving perfection is the last thing on my mind. The place often looks like a bomb has hit it! Particularly during September...

Despite appearing to be a place of chaos and disorder, the house is indeed a home. Let's face it, it's the place where we as a family can let down our hair. Therefore a little disorder can be useful, as long as you can still find something when you need it! There's even a sign stuck to one of the noticeboards in the house: "A tidy house is the sign of a wasted life!"

I must admit to yearning for perfection in this area of my life at least, but with children in the house that can be difficult. I'm working towards a little area of calm in the house where I can unwind. I'm off work at the end of the month to do precisely that. This is an area of my life where procrastination always seems to set in. Regular readers will know that putting myself first is the last thing that I do.

More later...

Next Time...

I am very pleased my God is a God of second chances. I was reminded of this when reviewing potential tunes to include in my recent A-Z feature. The following extract from a Gerry Rafferty song spoke to me one morning recently when I was really calling out to Him for a word of encouragement:

"You need direction, yeah you need a name

When you’re standing in the crossroads every highway looks the same

After a while you can recognise the signs

So if you get it wrong you’ll get it right next time (next time)".

2 Peter 3:9 (New International Version)

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Waiting Around

Matthew 25:1-13 (The Message)

1-5 "God's kingdom is like ten young virgins who took oil lamps and went out to greet the bridegroom. Five were silly and five were smart. The silly virgins took lamps, but no extra oil. The smart virgins took jars of oil to feed their lamps. The bridegroom didn't show up when they expected him, and they all fell asleep.

6 "In the middle of the night someone yelled out, 'He's here! The bridegroom's here! Go out and greet him!'

7-8 "The ten virgins got up and got their lamps ready. The silly virgins said to the smart ones, 'Our lamps are going out; lend us some of your oil.'

9 "They answered, 'There might not be enough to go around; go buy your own.'

10 "They did, but while they were out buying oil, the bridegroom arrived. When everyone who was there to greet him had gone into the wedding feast, the door was locked.

11 "Much later, the other virgins, the silly ones, showed up and knocked on the door, saying, 'Master, we're here. Let us in.'

12 "He answered, 'Do I know you? I don't think I know you.'

13 "So stay alert. You have no idea when he might arrive."

End Of Your Rope

Matthew 5:3 (The Message)
"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much." ~Mother Teresa

"When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

I’ve found the secret of success,
’Tis holding on, ’tis holding on;
The way to every blessedness,
’Tis holding on, ’tis holding on.
Our warfare may be hard and fierce,
Oft Satan’s arrows wound and pierce,
But still we get more smiles than tears
By holding on, by holding on.
SASB 806, verse 1 - Ruth Tracy (1870-1960)

I am reviewing the situation...

... and although I can see some progress, and drawn quite close to my Lord over the last few weeks, I still feel I'm not quite where I should be.

So, as the song has it, I am reviewing the situation.

"I think I'd better think it out again..."

As Patient As Job

Let's face it - this week at work was not easy. Plans that I had made to deal effectively with this week's workload were quickly scuppered by several sudden changes of plan, a series of unexpected computer bugs (aren't they always unexpected!), and the fact I felt grotty due to a pounding headache and sickness for most of the week. Deadlines queue up to be met, relentlessly. There have been a couple of highlights this week, but these have been few and far between...

There have been several references made at work today to the character of Job, who you will recall from the Old Testament had his faith severely tested. At one time Job was one of the most prosperous and happy of men, faithfully praising God for His goodness. Trying to get him to curse God, Satan destroyed all that Job owned, killed his children, and struck Job himself with sores from head to foot.

Reading up on the character of Job, I find there are references to him in several works of ancient literature. His name comes from a Hebrew word meaning “persecuted.” As well as the references in Old and New Testaments, Job is also mentioned as a prophet in the Qur'an. The story of Job crosses many cultural boundaries and still speaks to us today, exploring the themes of injustice, suffering and bitterness.

However, by far the biggest encouragement to me tonight is the fact that Job remained loyal to his beliefs throughout, and refused to curse God. I'm encouraged that the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning and he lived 140 years (Job 42:10,17). And although I can well understand the concept of 'Job's comforters', it is Job's steadfastness and hope that I take away with me. I'm re-reading the book of Job tonight.