Patience

I was reading through my devotional this morning about patience and the Lord put a few things on my heart that I want to share with all of you.

We live in a world in which we expect nearly everything at the blink of an eye; if we ever want something, we want it right away.  A lot of this, I feel, can be attributed to the advancement of technology.  My generation has been immersed in technology ever since we took our first steps as young children.  We grew up during the days of VHS tapes which eventually evolved to DVDs and most recently to Blu Ray.  Ask any kid under the age of twelve today and I'd venture to guess they have no clue what a VHS is.  I digress.

Technology provides means for us to get what we want, when we want it.  Consider online shopping, for example.  No longer do you physically have to go in to Target or go in to Walmart to buy the latest gadget or a new appliance for your kitchen.  You can simply sit at home in your pajamas and order virtually anything online.  Granted you'll have to wait for it to ship to your home but in terms of the actual transaction itself you need not set foot out of your home.

Now, why does this all matter?  Why is this relevant?  Patience is an incredible thing.  The ability to be patient allows an individual relax and understand that it may not be necessary to have something right away.  Patience with worldly things is all well and good, but patience with the Lord is even better.

You can sit down and map out the rest of your life all you want; your dream job, dream spouse, how many kids you want...blah, blah, blah.  You get the idea.  Go for it.  But I've quickly learned in the almost twenty-two and a half years I've spent on this Earth, that things don't always go the way you plan them to.  For example, I designed this blog to chronicle my journey through physical therapy school and my walk with the Lord.  My plan was to attend The Ohio State University.  God's plan was to test my faith, first by getting wait listed at all the schools to which I applied and second by trusting His plan for me to attend The University of Toledo.

I would be lying to you if I said there weren't times during the application process that I was impatient and other times that I worried.  However, the times of impatience and worrying were outweighed by words of encouragement from friends and family and more importantly God's grace.

I'll close by offering a challenge; I'll partake in this challenge as well.  Throughout the next week, if there is ever a time when you feel you're becoming impatient, take a moment to yourself.  Take a deep breath and remember that God is going to work everything out in His time.  Remember to not only have faith in Him but faith in his timing as well.  You may become frustrated this week at work or at school with a co-worker or classmate.  What is getting angry and impatient with them going to accomplish?  Probably not too much.  Step back, take a deep breath and be patient.

1 Thessalonians 5:14  And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.