Patience is a Virtue

"Lord, teach me patience." Have you ever said that and then quickly took it back knowing that if He gave you patience you're afraid it'd be too much patience? Like, you'd take it too far and start letting your children get away with everything because you wanted to be PATIENT with them? Patience is something I'm REALLY having a hard time with. And more than that, opening my mouth when I should be keeping it closed when I forget patience. Having patience when I need to and loving people no matter what the circumstance, whether they know Jesus or not. People that could do things the right way and don't I have a real lack of patience for. Doctors, for instance.

Something happened with my wonderful, beautiful, caring sisters a couple weeks ago and it was my fault...because of lack of patience. I hurt feelings and still feel bad for it. So a LOT of my daily time with God this past week is studying what the Word says about patience. This is sort of funny and DEFINITELY a God thing...God has put things in my way in the past few days so I could PRACTICE patience. It's not been anything really big...people pulling out in front of me or my windshield getting busted by a rock or the kids fighting....little things. Welll, this morning I started this post not realizing what the day would bring.

Took my dad for his checkup with two doctors today. Our first appointment was at noon. We arrived at 11:15 because normally we can get in early if we arrive early. Not today. 12:30 they come get us and lead us past 4 doors that the doctor will be seeing before us. 1:30 the doctor comes in. 1:30. Our appointment was at noon remember? Well, by this time I was not happy and very nicely let her know we had 15 minutes to get to his next appointment. She happily and cheerfully called his next doctor to explain things but THE POINT IS that she made us wait 2 hours and 15 minutes...ok TECHNICALLY, since his appointment was at noon, it would be 1 hour and 30 minutes. Finally we get to his second appointment at 2. They come for us at 2:45. 1 hour and 15 minutes later they send us to Radiology for an x-ray, just to make sure everything is as peachy as they think it is. I sat there at 4 PRAYING and praying hard for the patience to, first, not snap at my dad, and second, not snap a doctors head off. I think I have been doing fairly well thus far.

Every time it's my turn to bring my dad to an appointment I tend to bug the mess out of my sisters by phone. Calling for one thing or another. So I've bugged them again today and they STILL are seeing very little patience from me. How bad is that? I'm learning though right? That has to count for something.

As it stands, I'm still here. Still at the hospital with my dad WAITING for them to do their stuff and let us go home. It's 5:37. Obviously they don't keep bankers hours. I hope valet will still give me my car.

Below is the devotion I did this morning. Maybe I'll just read it over and over for the rest of the day.
2 Peter 1:5-7 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

Patience is one of those attributes that you cannot learn by reading about it. It’s a quality that can only be acquired by persistent, enduring, practice– and for me it’s a drill that I go over, and over, and over again!

The original Webster’s dictionary offers this definition of patience: “the suffering of afflictions, pain, toil, calamity, provocation or other evil, with a calm, unruffled temper; endurance without murmuring or fretfulness, from a kind of heroic pride, or from a Christian submission to the divine will.”

Reading this definition two things really struck me – first, “endurance without murmuring”. I, for instance, get so frustrated sitting in a traffic jam… counting the wasted minutes when I could have been doing something useful! Yet, what an opportunity for me to choose to quench the inner fumes – and use the delay to work on my patience!

The second thing that really hit me was, “a Christian submission to the divine will.” How many times are we placed in a difficult position, or forced to deal with an “impossible” situation? Or perhaps, an “impossible” person? These circumstances are always opportunities to grow in patience – or to learn to submit to God’s providential will, and often, to minister in some special or unique way.

Is your patience being tested today? Great! Remember, love is (first of all) patient. [1 Cor. 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.] The Lord is training you toward godliness –- and godliness is moving toward perfect love. With so much work to be done, He is really wanting to work this quality into your character now -– to perfect your love, and with it to transform the world around you for His glory!

I texted the sisters earlier today and Leigh Ann, the comic of the family texted back and said..."Patience Grasshopper." Great, now I'm a bug.

I sure hope you're having a WONDERFUL Monday afternoon/evening!

Grasshopper