Short and Sweet: Slowly Developing Patience…Very Slowly.

“Fireeeee truck. Fire TRUCK!!! Here comes the firreeee truck.”

Maybe if I roll over, the song will stop? Grabbing the blankets, I pulled them to the top of my neck and turned onto my side.

Silence.

A brief lull? Did he actually stop?

“FIRE TRUCK! FIRE TRUCKKKK! HERE COMES THE FIRE TRUCK!”

It’s 6:10 in the morning.

Lord have mercy!

Everyone else was asleep, but now I can hear the doors opening as the monotonous song continues to be bellowed from, you guessed it, Isaac’s bedroom. I’ve never heard it sung by anyone else, or from any TV show or movie, but this song…this song is something.

“Patience of Job’, they say.

Sure, Job lost everything he had: money, farmland, crops, his children were crushed by a building; boils and sores broke out all over his skin and his wife topped it all off with, “Job, go ahead and curse God and die.”

Yessh, what a woman!

Somedays it feels like I have to relearn patience. Thankfully I don’t have buildings crashing in on me, or everything I own falling apart. Yet, multiple days of little sleep, combined with the never ending feeling of unproductiveness around the home can be a doozy.

Yet lately I am learning to be patient one step at a time.

The first step started with…

My Bible.

“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Being totally honest, I struggle with that scripture at times. Somedays just trying to live out one of those things is hard. However, thank God for His Grace. After all, He is love. Paul knew it, because that whole scripture sums up in three verses who Jesus is.

Jesus is Love.

What was it that Jesus said, when he was asked by an expert in religious law what commandment in the law of Moses was most important?

Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.'” This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”

Matthew 22:37-39

Can you imagine what our society would be like, if we all believed and lived that scripture daily?

Imagine, people in abusive relationships loving the other person, rather than shouting at them or hitting them? How about that person losing it in the fast food restaurant, because their order was made wrong, deciding instead to stay calm, realize that everyone makes mistakes, and bring back their order? Or how about the parent, ie. Me, deciding to stay calm, when one of my children doesn’t listen, handling the situation with patience and love, rather than getting upset.

Tall order.

But 100% possible.

If we ask the Lord God to help us.

“For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13.

We were never meant to live this life on our own. Even though we are bombarded daily with, “Be who YOU want to be.” ” Be a better you.” “Join the Self-Help Community.” I believe wholeheartedly, once you cut the One who made you from the picture, it ain’t going to go very well for you, no matter how hard you try.

All the self help and encouraging words about my ability to handle stressful situations, hasn’t helped me very much. Sure, there are groups and people who can help you, I’m not talking about that. I am talking about relying on those things as your number 1. When I say to God, “God I can’t do this on my own. Honestly, I really need you right now because I feel like I’m about to crack.” That’s when my help comes. That’s when I get a boost of encouragement; a sense that I can push on.

The Psalmist said it best, “I look up to the mountains – does my help come from there? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!” Psalm 121:1

So when I come across this:

Or step into my boot and jam this into my foot:

I will remember to take a breath, ask God to give me strength and help me to have patience, and then wipe off the table, remove the 1 inch cat from my boot and thank God for the blessings I do have.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Christian