You know how it is. Once you take the brush out of the bottle you only have so much time before the air dries it out too much. So I had my face all up in the mirror doing my lashes in deep concentration, but she pressed and her urgency made me go ahead and look. And when I did, I saw an "injury" so microscopic I could barely see it without glasses.
I sighed, irritated at her impatience. And as I went back to my now-clumpy lashes and my gunked-up brush, I realized that I'm just as impatient as she is. Probably more so.
For me, waiting for something is like having my hands tied together. Depending on how long I have to wait, the rope can seem quite knotted up. And the undoing of those knots is out of my control, hence my many impatience-induced freak-outs (or at the very least, sighs of irritation).
Oftentimes the circumstance will eventually unknot itself, but with the bigger, more complicated knots in life, I need the Lord to undo them for me. It's never fun to wait, and most of the time it frustrates me that He won't just cut those knots loose and let me continue on my way with my hands free. Instead He chooses to pick them out slowly, like a mama picking knots out of her little child's shoes.
But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth. Psalm 86:15
16 comments:
I have been told my several people that I am an incredibly patient person. Truth is, I don't feel like I am most days. I mean, in the every day rush of life, I don't tend to lose my patience, but there are those few key areas that I tend to lose my patience almost every time I think about them. Right now the biggest 2 are: the desire to see my husband reading his bible each day, and (this goes hand in hand with that) wanting him to become the spiritual head of our relationship. Two things I prayed for this morning actually. So this post, as many of the ones you've written, is very timely for me.
Ok, I would need more than 31 days for this series!
What a great topic for day #2.
This reinds me of one of my favourite prayers:
Lord grant me patience.
I want it now!
I want it right now, too!
I think I could keep writing on this for a year!
Just this morning I heard a message on anger, and the pastor said that we all have our certain triggers for anger and that we should guard our hearts and pray especially about those areas. I think this would apply to areas of impatience, too. The two desires you mentioned are both very worthy ones. I pray you'll let your deep desire lead you into even deeper prayer as you wait on the Lord, living in faith that He'll answer. Those are the kinds of prayers He wants to answer, and I've had the same desires in the past. If I could have a do-over, I would be much more diligent in my praying for my husband(s).
The weight of waiting can be a heavy load when we insist on moving things along. I know I become easily frustrated waiting but God uses the wait as well.
Amen. It's so much easier to let it go and let Him deal with it. We don't think it's easier, but it really is in the long run. When we take things into our own hands, we get in trouble.
Oh. Patience. (or the "P" word as I affectionately call it) is something I battle with too... yet interestingly it is one of the things I am most thankful for that God has with me.
Blessings - Danise
As I've aged and gained greater responsibilities, I've noticed my patience, or lack thereof, has surfaced. When my 8 year old, my persistent 8 year old, comes to me with needs, impatience rears it's ugly head. His need is a 10 to him, but a 3 to me. However, he is a 10 to me. I must remember I'll never get this moment back and I want him to know he is more important that whatever I am doing at the moment.
Again, you are my kindred sister-friend! Thank you for your transparency!
It's hard to be patient. It's hard to wait for the blessing. They that wait on the Lord will renew their strength. May you find strength in the waiting. I
Amen!! Where would we be if He weren't patient with us?
Exactly ... our children are more important that the menial tasks of life we so don't want interrupted. I'm ashamed of how many times I've come across thinking otherwise over the years. But ... grace! We get to start over again and again, thankfully. <3
Thank you, Barbie. He is faithful to renew our strength!
Oh my STARS I love your comparison of impatience with hands tied in a knotted rope. Isn't that the truth? The next time I feel impatience creeping {And it's always over those things that don't amount to a hill of beans!} I will picture Christ untying my knots, showing me how to lean on Him to work out my own.
L*O*V*E.
Honored you stopped by. Thank you, Kristen.
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