When you ask God for patience, do you know how he gives you patience? He tests it. There are a thousand ways that God tests my patience. Kids, slow drivers, waiting forever in the grocery store, having to explain my point several times to a person.
Sometimes, I think that I’m crazy for asking for patience. Usually, I think that in the must of an incredibly trying time.
What I should do is remember Hebrews 10:36. Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.
We also have to remember that raising our children in a calm, loving, Christian environment is God’s will. There are trying times when it would be easiest to just tell them to sit down and shut up. But because these lovely children are gifts from God, we don’t. We need to show them the love of Christ through the way we handle them even when they are being trying on purpose. When we lose patience with or children (who hasn’t been there?), we can turn to Psalm 127:3. Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.
My biggest test is probably my children. 99% of the time, they are angels. They do what their told, they use their manners and most importantly, they don’t pick on each other. But that one percent. Wow. I never knew that 1% could seem to take sooooooo long. Did you know that 1% of a week isn’t even 2 hours? It’s about 101 minutes. That means that, on average, my kids try my patience for less than 15 minutes a day. Doesn’t seem like much when you put it that way. Maybe putting out problems in perspective is a great way to handle them.
Lastly, (and this verse is great for so many different instances) I’d like to leave you with Jeremiah 29:11. “I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
