It wasn’t that long ago that most of my home state of Texas was in the worst stages of drought it had seen in many years. Lakes were dry, plants were brittle and yellowed, and the value of water was priceless (this has not changed much) to a people and land that were both desperate for relief.
And then something happened…the rain came.
The last year and a half Texas has seen its lakes fill up and its vegetation grow hearty with life. Yellow and dusty front yards have transformed into green blades of grass and weeds that weekly need a mow. Our temperatures have gone down and this summer has been relatively mild for the area my family and I live in. This season of rain and rebirth has been rejuvenating and a blessing that so many of us felt would never come… our patience was tested to what felt like the brink of its tolerance.
In so many ways, isn’t that how life feels for all of us at some point?
Don’t we all face hard times that push our patience to the brink, as we wait for some “good” to come along? It’s during these times that we have to decide how patient we’re really going to be, and how our circumstances are going to influence our response to what we’re facing.
As I’m sure you all know by now, giving up and giving in to negativity is the weakest reflection of our hearts. We fight so hard to live above the fray and to be the best we can be for our family, friends, and the world. We know that staying positive and keeping faith in God is the best and RIGHT choice we can make. And yet so often we find ourselves cursing the world or those closest to us in the midst of our anger and frustration.
We give in to what’s easy in order to feel like we have some control. The tragic reality of this choice is that exercising that feeling of control causes us to sacrifice our faith. So you see, you can’t gain that sense of control without losing something far greater in the process. This world desperately needs to understand that in the times and seasons of patience, when we choose to wait for Gods blessings with grateful hearts, that’s when our strength shines through.
Trusting and knowing that God is in control, and that He will set everything right, releases our burden of feeling like we have to have all the answers. Which is silly, because we definitely don’t. Not only that, God wants us to be patient and He wants us to have the kind of character that’s resilient in the hard times. It’s so important that no matter what our life looks like or what the world looks like around us, that we remain "satisfied in Him, because that’s when He is most glorified in us."(John Piper, Desiring God)
“Be still. Be PATIENT. Expect the Eternal to arrive and set things right. Don’t get upset when you see the worldly ones rising up the ladder. Don’t be bothered by those who are anchored in wicked ways. So turn from anger. Don’t rage, and don’t worry-these ways frame the doorway to evil. Besides, those who act from evil motives will be cut off from the land; but those who wait, hoping in the Eternal, will enjoy its riches.”
--Psalm 37:7-9 (VOICE)
