Showing posts with label patience. Show all posts
Showing posts with label patience. Show all posts
Monday, December 20, 2010
Tangled Web of Emotions
I don't know about you, but for me today was one of those days when my emotions took me on a whirlwind ride. I was happy. I was sad. I cried and cried and cried some more. It started early in the morning and lasted all day. I was an emotional wreck and there seemed nothing that I could do about it.
I wanted to share with you this little clip of Patsy Clairmont. She is one of the funniest Christian speakers I know and I relate to her. She speaks in a way that I can understand and that touches my heart. In this clip she talks a little about emotions. I wanted to find the full clip but wasn't able to, but if you want to hear more you can always check out her book I Second that Emotion.
Anyway, the most important point she makes is that God created us to have all these different emotions and He accepts us no matter our emotional state. God wraps His arms around me on days like today when I can't stop crying because we had another unsuccessful month of trying to get pregnant and all hope seems lost. He rejoices with me when I am over joyed with a great personally victory and He is there with me at every emotional stop in between. Nothing I can do will surprise Him. There is no emotion I can have that His own Son did not experience (although I know Jesus handled all his without sinning!).
Prayer for today:
Thank you, God, for creating me with the full range of emotions. Thank you for being there with me as I go through these emotions. Please help me to share my joys with others and allow others to build me up when my emotions are not so good. Most of all, God, help me to cast all my cares and emotions on You. Amen.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Wait for the Lord
“Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” Psalm 27:14
Wait. How many millions of times have we heard that?! Life is all about hurrying up and waiting or so it seems. We have to wait until we’re older. Wait until we have a job. Wait until we’re married.
Wait upon the Lord. This simple phrase gave me pause. Do I really wait upon the Lord or do I get impatient and jump in and do my own thing because God isn’t fast enough?
Jimmy likes to use this example when he talks about waiting on the Lord… If Jimmy really, really wanted a brand new flat screen TV and he went out and bargained shopped it (that’s what we do in our house). Then he finds an awesome deal where the TV will only cost $700 instead of $900 so he comes back to talk to me about it. Jimmy asks me if it’s okay to buy this $700 TV. I don’t say anything. Does that mean he has the “OK” to go and buy the TV? No way! Just because I don’t give an immediate answer doesn’t mean that I am giving approval. Jimmy needs to wait.
It’s the same with God. Just because He doesn’t say “Yes” right away or He isn’t granting our requests like an all-powerful genie doesn’t mean that we should take things into our own hands. Neither does it mean that He doesn’t hear us. He simply wants us to wait. In Psalm 27, God says we are to be strong and take heart and wait. Don’t give into the temptation to give up! Be strong! Be patient! God will send you His answer in His time and in His way.
“Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” Psalm 27:14
Wait. How many millions of times have we heard that?! Life is all about hurrying up and waiting or so it seems. We have to wait until we’re older. Wait until we have a job. Wait until we’re married.
Wait upon the Lord. This simple phrase gave me pause. Do I really wait upon the Lord or do I get impatient and jump in and do my own thing because God isn’t fast enough?
Jimmy likes to use this example when he talks about waiting on the Lord… If Jimmy really, really wanted a brand new flat screen TV and he went out and bargained shopped it (that’s what we do in our house). Then he finds an awesome deal where the TV will only cost $700 instead of $900 so he comes back to talk to me about it. Jimmy asks me if it’s okay to buy this $700 TV. I don’t say anything. Does that mean he has the “OK” to go and buy the TV? No way! Just because I don’t give an immediate answer doesn’t mean that I am giving approval. Jimmy needs to wait.
It’s the same with God. Just because He doesn’t say “Yes” right away or He isn’t granting our requests like an all-powerful genie doesn’t mean that we should take things into our own hands. Neither does it mean that He doesn’t hear us. He simply wants us to wait. In Psalm 27, God says we are to be strong and take heart and wait. Don’t give into the temptation to give up! Be strong! Be patient! God will send you His answer in His time and in His way.
“Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” Psalm 27:14
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
A to B not A to Z
Last night I was thinking about Abraham. I don’t know if I should consider him lucky or feel sorry for him. Okay, let me explain. Very seldom does God tell you what the end result is going to be. God told Abraham from the beginning He would make a great nation from him and that his descendants would be as numerous as the sands on the sea shore (Gen. 12:2). Therefore I consider Abraham very lucky. However, God left him hanging on the details. He didn’t tell Abraham how this was going to happen or when it was going to happen. It wasn’t until much later and after a few wrong turns that God finally tells him that it is Isaac He would use to fulfill His promises (Gen. 21:12). It is the feeling of the unknown, “limbo” if you will, which makes me feel sorry for Abraham.
I have seen these very same patterns repeated in my life. When I encounter these issues, I find myself fortunate to have received God’s promises, but then I become impatient with the unknown and begin to feel sorry for myself.
There has only been one instance in my life where I feel I was completely able to trust God through all the steps without complaining, whining, or being impatient. Of course this was partly because things progressed very quickly. It’s now that I have to stop and remember that God never promised to give me all the details A to Z. He did however promise to walk me through from A to B then B to C then C to D, etc.
“The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8 (also vs. 6)
“No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Joshua 1:5
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’” Hebrews 13:5
Isn’t it amazing that God’s our every insecurity! I truly feel that although these verses were explicitly meant for the people God gave them to He also meant them for me. He knows just how nervous I get when I don’t have everything figured out. He knows the stress that I feel when things are out of my control. He also knows that I need to let go. He is there walking with me each and every day. He is waiting for me to trust Him in the day to day A to B activities so He can fully blow my mind with the A to Z. If I cannot appreciate where I am today and learn the daily lesson God has for me, how can I expect to grasp the big picture?
Pray for me to let go and trust God. I will pray the same for you. It’s so simple and yet so incredibly hard! Yet the reward is more than worth it!
Grace and Peace,
Christiana
I have seen these very same patterns repeated in my life. When I encounter these issues, I find myself fortunate to have received God’s promises, but then I become impatient with the unknown and begin to feel sorry for myself.
There has only been one instance in my life where I feel I was completely able to trust God through all the steps without complaining, whining, or being impatient. Of course this was partly because things progressed very quickly. It’s now that I have to stop and remember that God never promised to give me all the details A to Z. He did however promise to walk me through from A to B then B to C then C to D, etc.
“The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8 (also vs. 6)
“No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Joshua 1:5
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’” Hebrews 13:5
Isn’t it amazing that God’s our every insecurity! I truly feel that although these verses were explicitly meant for the people God gave them to He also meant them for me. He knows just how nervous I get when I don’t have everything figured out. He knows the stress that I feel when things are out of my control. He also knows that I need to let go. He is there walking with me each and every day. He is waiting for me to trust Him in the day to day A to B activities so He can fully blow my mind with the A to Z. If I cannot appreciate where I am today and learn the daily lesson God has for me, how can I expect to grasp the big picture?
Pray for me to let go and trust God. I will pray the same for you. It’s so simple and yet so incredibly hard! Yet the reward is more than worth it!
Grace and Peace,
Christiana
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Working with People
The hardest part of life, work, and ministry…hands down…is working with people. People are crabby, impatient, imperfect, cranky, hard to please, demanding, selfish…need I go on? I think you get the picture. Yeah, sometimes people are great. On those days everything is great. The question is,
“How do you work with people when things aren’t great?”
Christiana’s Keys for Working with People
1. Be Patient
2. Show them the Love of God
3. Treat them how you would want to be treated
Be Patient
“A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly.” Proverbs 14:29
“A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.” Proverbs 19:11
I know, this is easier said than done, but this doesn’t make it any less important. God shows us patience daily, hourly, and sometimes minute by minute. If God wasn’t patient, He would have wiped the earth clean of mankind a long, long time ago. He even thought about it a few times, but in the end He chose to show patience mixed with grace and mercy.
Show Them the Love of God
“You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?” Matthew 5:43-46
A couple of weeks ago, I had a run in with a man on a motorcycle. My husband and I were driving home and were preparing to exit the highway when a guy on a motorcycle must have thought that I cut him off on purpose. Needless to say, he did not re-act very well. He sped up to be equal with Jimmy’s window and began cursing and flipping us the bird. Not satisfied with the reaction he received, he proceeded to pull in front of us and slam on his brakes. This continued for about 5 minutes and I almost rear-ended him several times. All the while he was still cussing up a storm and giving us profane hand signals. Finally, satisfied that he had traumatized us enough he sped off into the distance and we were able to safely exit the highway and proceed home.
I was really shook up by this encounter. I was thankful that God allowed me the presence of mind to keep an even temper and to not give the man’s poor behavior back to him. By the time he left I was really ready to rear end him. If I had done that it wouldn’t have brought any glory to God and could have caused serious injury to the man on the bike as well as Jimmy and I. I did my best to show him the love of God by not getting upset or cursing or flipping him off or hitting him or calling the cops. Hopefully he will someday learn about the love of Christ and will begin showing others the grace of God.
Treat Them How You Want to Be Treated
“The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:14
We have all heard the Golden Rule. Did you know that it comes from the Bible? I could go on and on and on about the way that Bible permeates pop culture without people even knowing it, but that’s a tangent and I will save it for another time. Anyway, this is a good rule of thumb on how to deal with other people. Seriously, why would you treat someone else in a way that you yourself would hate?! Yet, we do it ALL the time! I know that I really need to work on this principle. If we treated others with the same kindness, deference, esteem, and respect that we show ourselves then there wouldn’t be any wars or fighting or world hunger or people taking advantages of others. Wouldn’t that be great?
Christiana's Challenge to You
This week let’s start practicing patience, start showing others the love of God, and start treating others how we would want to be treated. It can only make the world better!
“How do you work with people when things aren’t great?”
Christiana’s Keys for Working with People
1. Be Patient
2. Show them the Love of God
3. Treat them how you would want to be treated
Be Patient
“A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly.” Proverbs 14:29
“A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.” Proverbs 19:11
I know, this is easier said than done, but this doesn’t make it any less important. God shows us patience daily, hourly, and sometimes minute by minute. If God wasn’t patient, He would have wiped the earth clean of mankind a long, long time ago. He even thought about it a few times, but in the end He chose to show patience mixed with grace and mercy.
Show Them the Love of God
“You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?” Matthew 5:43-46
A couple of weeks ago, I had a run in with a man on a motorcycle. My husband and I were driving home and were preparing to exit the highway when a guy on a motorcycle must have thought that I cut him off on purpose. Needless to say, he did not re-act very well. He sped up to be equal with Jimmy’s window and began cursing and flipping us the bird. Not satisfied with the reaction he received, he proceeded to pull in front of us and slam on his brakes. This continued for about 5 minutes and I almost rear-ended him several times. All the while he was still cussing up a storm and giving us profane hand signals. Finally, satisfied that he had traumatized us enough he sped off into the distance and we were able to safely exit the highway and proceed home.
I was really shook up by this encounter. I was thankful that God allowed me the presence of mind to keep an even temper and to not give the man’s poor behavior back to him. By the time he left I was really ready to rear end him. If I had done that it wouldn’t have brought any glory to God and could have caused serious injury to the man on the bike as well as Jimmy and I. I did my best to show him the love of God by not getting upset or cursing or flipping him off or hitting him or calling the cops. Hopefully he will someday learn about the love of Christ and will begin showing others the grace of God.
Treat Them How You Want to Be Treated
“The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:14
We have all heard the Golden Rule. Did you know that it comes from the Bible? I could go on and on and on about the way that Bible permeates pop culture without people even knowing it, but that’s a tangent and I will save it for another time. Anyway, this is a good rule of thumb on how to deal with other people. Seriously, why would you treat someone else in a way that you yourself would hate?! Yet, we do it ALL the time! I know that I really need to work on this principle. If we treated others with the same kindness, deference, esteem, and respect that we show ourselves then there wouldn’t be any wars or fighting or world hunger or people taking advantages of others. Wouldn’t that be great?
Christiana's Challenge to You
This week let’s start practicing patience, start showing others the love of God, and start treating others how we would want to be treated. It can only make the world better!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
A Test of Patience
Right now, I REALLY want to throw my computer against the wall. There are, however, a few essential flaws to this plan. Number One, this isn't my computer (it belongs to my school, oops). Number Two, how is that going to help me get my assignment done. Hmm maybe I better think about this again.
I don't know about you, but I find patience to be one of the hardest fruits of the Spirit to apply to my life. I get angry when other people aren't patient with me, but do I really put in the effort to show patience to others? Honestly the answer is "No". I don't spend enough time practicing patience. I hurry from one thing to the next and stress about traffic and the time it takes the computer to render my 3D objects that I need to turn in so I can get out of here.
I wonder how my life would be different if I were a more patient person?
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22 & 23
I don't know about you, but I find patience to be one of the hardest fruits of the Spirit to apply to my life. I get angry when other people aren't patient with me, but do I really put in the effort to show patience to others? Honestly the answer is "No". I don't spend enough time practicing patience. I hurry from one thing to the next and stress about traffic and the time it takes the computer to render my 3D objects that I need to turn in so I can get out of here.
I wonder how my life would be different if I were a more patient person?
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