Joyce Meyer shared in a teaching broadcast that her son once asked “What are we calling Dying to Self this time?” I face another choice in this never-ending quest this week. And it’s about time. I share regularly with friends, prayer partners, and family members that I struggle with waiting. My natural personality is that a problem should have been addressed yesterday and that tomorrow is too late.
This weekend, I made myself available to someone I thought I was to connect with and was apparently ignored. At least that is the way is seemed to me. I could be wrong – being wrong is only a result of trying something I believe God has instructed me to do. Trying new things teaches us what we shouldn’t be involved in as much as how to move forward. So, my dilemma is whether I was wrong about this person being a contact I should make, or if it’s just not time yet.
I asked God for patience with my sons when they were small and later with myself. Being my own worst critic means I am sometimes judgmental about my own fallacies instead of being merciful – and that habit can extend to others if I allow it to happen. Some days, I hear the thought that I should wish I’d never asked for patience, but that is simply another lie of the enemy of my soul. I learned years ago that I wanted to be conformed to the image of Jesus so I can better represent Him and His mercy toward all. Being patient with myself and others is an integral part of the character of God.
So, as I consider my dilemma, it occurs to me that it is another exercise in learning patience – not with myself – but in waiting on God’s answer for yet another thorny issue. This weekend, my natural inclination to wash my hands of this person had to yield to the distinct possibility that, once again, I am trying to hurry God up, knowing full well that He is never late but also not early. So, I will learn another piece of the lesson about having patience:
James 1:4 And let endurance have its perfect result and do a thorough work, so that you may be perfect and completely developed [in your faith], lacking in nothing. (AMP) Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
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