Patience

“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.” - Job 19:25

Patience, so I read,  is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without acting on annoyance or anger in a negative way; or exhibiting forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties.

As I write this, I’m almost too impatient to read that whole definition.  Such is the human condition.  So many times were we told as children, “Patience is a virtue.” Or “Rome wasn’t built in one day, you know.”

But sometimes I just want to scream out, “I don’t want virtue; I don’t care how long it took to build Rome.”  I just want what I want and I want it right now!!!!

Patience.

Job said these words so many years before  Jesus…yet Jesus is who he was speaking of.  He knew there would be a redeemer, and that someday…after much waiting…he would arrive on the earth.   Job’s patience is the stuff legends are made out of.  Mine…not so much.

Yet as I look back through my life, and see how I have grown in Christ…and realize that my timing is nothing compared to the timing of our Lord.  As Scripture tells us, “a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past” (visit Psalm 90:4)

And I’m thankful that God is so patient with me.

Slow down.  Rome wasn’t built in a day.  And God is not done with you and I yet either…

P.S. And please be patient with me.  It is likely I won't be posting much over the next couple of weeks....