Patience has been a word used in our family so much lately that I think God is teaching and using our circumstances to cause us to lean into him during these times and wait for him to move for us.  This is sometimes the hardest part of my relationship with the Abba.  Lean in and Wait.  

We live in this world where it is go, go, go and get, get, get so you can move on to the next item, but we miss it so much.  We miss opportunities, relationships, and experiences that God has placed in front of us to grow us and move us down the path he has planned for us.  

I guess I try and learn patience then I begin to ponder whether I am boasting or confident when I stand in my beliefs of what he will deliver.  I know that when I pray I ask for his will to be done, but I believe that I must be confident in the work he is doing behind the scenes and the results I am seeing of that work, but then I worry.  So I am casting it all on your Lord as you have called me to do in 1 Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

How best to do that than to sit and write about all that is plaguing my soul right now?  God is pricking me, so I write.  

I write and read about patience to see what I am missing and maybe what more importantly what God is trying to teach me.  He is teaching me to wait and be patient and let him do the work that I want to do so bad, to do the work that I can’t stand waiting on because of my impatience.  To wait as Psalm 40:1 states, “I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.”  I wait and cry out to him to stand firm with me in confidence that his will maybe done and I will be the better for it.  Scriptures all is teaching me that patience is quiet not always loud full of crying to the Lord.  Lamentations 3:25-26 teaches, “The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.  I guess I am just thankful that God will hear my cries and honor my peace as I move through trusting him during this time of Faith. 

So I am clinging to Scripture during this time of patience and two specific verses that help me stay patient and focused on how God works in my life and even those around me. So if you find yourself buried in anxiety and worry and lacking the patience to wait for God remember these verses:

Ephesians 4:2  Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Romans 8:25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

I am waiting Lord!

As I wait and focus on patience, I was pulled to look into scripture on God’s Timing which this blog post is titled.  Maybe my lesson in patience can be better focused if I realize that God’s plan is so much better no matter what!  His timing will be the best if I can stay out of it.

There is a time for everything isn’t that Ecclesiastes teaches us in 3:1 and on, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:”  This is my time to wait on the Lord.  I must trust in the Lord and his plan for my life as Jeremiah 29:11-12 reminds me, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.”  The maybe the biggest is I must trust in the Lord.  I must live the verses in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

I am hearing you Lord, I am waiting patiently and trusting in your plan.  Hear my prayers of need to calm my spirit and lean in more to you.  No worrying because you have this no matter who is working against me because  Psalm 37:7 tells me so, “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.”

Bring me peace during this time.  Teach me the lessons that I need to learn to move on down the path you have chosen for me.