Saturday, February 25, 2012

Patience

Hey Guys! As Daniel said, I was on a misson trip to Burma and Malaysia. By the grace of God it was incredible and life changing. I'm back and writing. Sorry it's taken so long for me to post. God bless you all a ton!

"No WAY!!!!!!! Not again..." I walk into my room and find my sewing supplies everywhere. It’s the fifth time this week and I’m at the end of my rope. Pins and needles poking my feet, spools of thread partially unwound and in a tangled mess, fabric cut into a million pieces, not to mention the buttons! "Elijah David!!!" I yell in anger. This time he’s going to get it... What do I need at this moment? I desperately need patience.
Patience demonstrates that we are in Christ. It’s one of the fruits that should be growing in the life of every believer. Patience is defined as long suffering, bearing under or withstanding circumstances and also as holding out hope while not despairing. The most common understanding of patience involves everyday circumstances. A biblical understanding of patience includes victory in the everyday irritations of life as well as developing a confident trust in God’s will.
How do we attain such a lofty virtue? Patience must start with putting off the old man and his ways as 2 Corinthians 5:17 says. We have to put off self-centeredness and irritability. 1 Corinthians 13 teaches us that love is patient, it is not easily irritated and does not seek its own way. We really need a change in our perspective. We need to stop looking out for our own interests. We need humility. Philippians 2:3-4 says "Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others as more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." We also need to have self control. Controlling our words and actions starts with controlling our thoughts and motives. 1 Corinthians 10:5b says "... and take every thought captive to obey Christ;" When a situation unfolds that frustrates us we can replace the angry and self-centered thought with a gracious thought. I can think, "Elijah is trying to make my life difficult. He doesn’t care about all the work he makes for me!" or I can think, "Elijah is creative and very curious. I need to help him learn to respect others property. I also need to spend more time showing him my sewing supplies together." Maybe I need to remember to store them properly. Instead of focusing on him, I need to see if there’s a lesson for me to learn. Therefore, what I need for patience is really loving-kindness. We need to love others, count them as "more significant", and do that by putting down our selfish desires.
Is that all that is required to be patient? It’s certainly a great start! But patience goes a bit further. Patience requires contentment. 1 Timothy 6:6 says "Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment." Patience also requires a hopefulness while waiting. When we wait on God’s timing, and are content in the stage he has placed us, we have patience and peace. When we trust in the sovereignty of God with full assurance of his goodness, we have no reason to be unhappy or impatient. His timing is perfect and we can rest in that. The peace that ensues is a great blessing from our Lord, and a result of patience.
Wether you and I are struggling with the daily irritations that happen all the time, or having trouble being content with our circumstances, we all need to be more patient. With all we’ve considered it might seem like a huge task, and in many ways it is too great a task for us alone. However God’s Word promises that "He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." (Phil. 1:6) Praise the Lord! Be encouraged to be patient.

Note: Elijah, my five year old brother, though quite curious in real life has never dumped my sewwing supplies. He is released of all guilt.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Mission Trip Update

Hey everyone, thanks so much for any and all your prayers for the Burma mission team. They safely returned Saturday before last. Sorry I haven't updated the blog in a bit, we've all been busy. Now that Savannah's back, she'll be rolling out a new essay soon. Thanks again!