Focus
Experience silence in the midst of your busy day. Take some time to relax into a time to be with God.
Read
Patience in Suffering
7 Be patient, therefore, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. 9 Brothers and sisters, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Indeed, we call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the outcome that the Lord brought about, for the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
12 Above all, brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “Yes” be yes and your “No” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
Reflect
Be patient? What? Be patient? You have got to be joking! I don’t have time to “be patient!” I have too much to do and not enough time or energy to do it as it is. Does that sound familiar to you? How many of us have difficulty being patient? We want to “fix” everything RIGHT NOW! Our lives have become Rush, Rush, Rush.
Sometimes in our impatience and frustration, we say and/or do foolish things and make promises without thinking them through. We may have made things much worse and made it harder to get to the end result of what God has planned. Think back to Abram and Sarai. They got impatient and by making foolish choices, caused problems that continue today. They didn’t wait for God’s promise to be fulfilled in His way. Instead, they took things into their own hands.
Real patience is hard but also a sign of our faith – that we trust God. We don’t know what is waiting for us in the days ahead. It may be blessings, or it could be trials and trouble. It doesn’t matter what it is, God already knows, and we can trust he will be there with us. We don’t have to do it alone.
Pray
Patient God, you do not act in haste when dealing with us. We fail, you forgive, instruct, and love. YOu have patience with us. Help us to be patient with ourselves and with others. Give us strength to stay loving toward all and in all situations. Amen.
Go with God!
