patience.

I am not a patient person.

People who know me may not believe that sentence because I can seem very patient. But put a camera in my car while I’m driving alone and you’ll see the real me.

“Dude! What are you doing?! It says 55 mph, not 35 mph!!!! Come on!!!!! Oh, now you won’t let me pass. Greaaaaaaaat.”

At a very young age, my mom would recite with me patience is a virtue. I used to hate that phrase. But not until I got older that I realized that patience IS a virtue.

vir·tue – behavior showing high moral standards.
synonyms: goodness, integrity, honor, purity.

Just looking at the definition, I want to have a virtuous life – it sounds beautiful.

The Lord loves talking to me while I’m stuck in a long lines at the store. Some of my best conversations with God happen when I’m at the end of a very long line.  God has treated lines as a way to become aware of Him. He knows what gets under my skin, so He uses the opportunity for His glory.

When I feel anxious that the line isn’t moving and I have to be somewhere soon, God talks to me. My restless soul becomes still and God places something good on my heart. He reminds me of Himself, of who I am in Him, etc.

I like how He deliberately uses a line, which requires waiting and patience, to be still and listen.

But even after these good things happen in my life, I still struggle with patience.

I was recently talking with a couple friends and said, “It’s funny that when we pray for patience, we want it right now.”

Seriously! I’ve recited that prayer before. I’m always reminded that with the Lord, things just don’t happen right then and there. He’s not like the people from State Farm. “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there….” He’s there and He is present to help but there requires patience. We know that He is good and faithful – the Word says it! 2 Timothy 2:13 says, “If we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.” Deuteronomy 31:8 shares this sweet truth, “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

So what have we learned? He is faithful and that He goes before us and is still with us.

Praise God for His goodness.

Recently, I’ve been praying for God’s will in my life. It’s a prayer a lot of us Christians pray. We want it but finding it is difficult especially when you’re not sure it’s just your selfish ambition talking to yourself or if it’s really God. But God been teaching me that if I want His Will, I have to live according to His timing.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”-Ecclesiastes 3:11

Now patience has to be put into practice. We have to believe that as we stay in communion with the Lord, that He is leading us places. But remember that the way He works sometimes doesn’t make sense to us. His timeline isn’t our timeline – but He is doing things.

“…If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.”-Habakkuk 2:3

I find this verse extremely encouraging. His vision for our lives will take place, we just need to be patient.

Be patient. Trust in the Lord. Know that He is for us and not against us.

“Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.”-Psalm 27:14

Let me end with the amazing verse from the book of Psalms.
“I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!”-Psalm 116:1-2

What an amazing Father He is! He hears you. He knows your needs. He is working out everything – all we need to do is be patient and wait on Him.

Blog Series: Godly Character-Patience

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”-Colossians 3:12-13 (This verse will be referenced a lot during this series)

Friends, I want to speak to you like you’re my best friend, sister, and even my brother. Treat this post like a precious letter (I LOVE LETTERS BY THE WAY!!! 🙂 ) I’m very excited for this blog series because I know that God is going to reveal many things about having a Godly character.

When you look around in this world, what do you see? I’m sure you see many honest people walking around, right? Nope. How about people filled with joy and a smile on their face? Yeah, didn’t think so. Do you see people standing up for others? Uh, sometimes. But it’s not something that you see everyday.  Lets be honest, our world is messed up and turned upside down. I long to see a person of character to walk past me. I am mostly surrounded by self seeking people who strive to get ahead of life by doing the unthinkable to their friends, coworkers, and family members.

In Webster, character is defined as:
1) one of the attributes or features that make up and distinguish an individual
2)  moral excellence and firmness <a man of sound character>

Let’s talk about patience.

Something that I struggle with is patience. When I come home to visit my folks, I feel as though they mustered up a list of things to do the very second I leave their house. Most of the things that they want me to do includes the computer. Teaching my folks to use a computer is like teaching a rhino how to ride a unicycle. NOT POSSIBLE. My mom always has a notepad with her when I’m explaining how to attach a picture to a email. She always seems to lose her notes and we are back to square one. My patience level with my parents is very short. I feel horrible when I get irritated with them because I feel as though they don’t listen to me.

Sometimes with my friends I can get irritated. I try not to reveal my irritation but after awhile I just can’t hold it in. Gosh, I have a problem with patience.

Sometimes with the Lord I lose patience. “God, why am I (fill in problem). It’s been 5 months! Are you listening to me?!” As Christians, we are in the limelight. We tweet about patience and putting our trust in the Lord, but when it comes to actually being patient it can non-existent (seriously, been there, done that).

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

I admire those who wait patiently for things. I desire to be patient just how God is patient with us (we are so screwed up, rude, lovers of the world, etc. yet He is patient). Psalms 86:15 says,  “But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,  slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.” Yep, with my folks I am not slow to anger but extremely fast.

Friends, we are made in God’s image. We’ve been called to be different (I say this ALL the time). Patience with those who don’t know Christ is extremely important. It’s important that they see patience in us because they will see the patience of God. It’s hard waiting to see change in people, especially when it deals with their walk in Christ. Let’s be patient with them. God is  Sovereign and is in control of EVERYTHING. We seriously have no control of His plans.

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”-Ephesians 4:1-3

What a beautiful character it is to have a Godly character of patience. Patience is something practiced and then repeated. It’s a habit that has to be created and once it’s mastered it will come as second nature. If you want a patient character (like me), we have to cooperate with God because He wants to give us this character.

“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”-Philippians 1:6

“Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them– every day begin the task anew.”  – Francis de Sales

In His time.

I’m a time person. Ask anyone I know with, “What is Sarah’s biggest pet peeve?” They would tell you, “Being late!” I will show up to class 15 minutes early. I also love scheduling out my week. If I lost my planner, I would probably cry. That has all my appointments, due dates, etc.

I have this bad habit. I’ve been setting a time limit on God. I’ve been wanting God to use when I want Him to, not when He wants me to. I recently decided to take 6 months off from dating (well, boys!) I want these 6 months with the Lord to be some amazing times of intimate moments with the Lord. I want Him to speak to me like never before. I recently was speaking to a friend of mine who lives in Texas. She told me something that really hit home with me. “Don’t put a time limit on God.” Woah! “What about after these 6 months? What will your relationship with God look like?” I never really thought about it. What is my relationship with the Lord going to look like? Am I just going to go back to where I was?

I absolutely love Ecclesiastes 3:11. The Message version says, “True, God has made everything beautiful in itself and in it’s time…” This verse is just amazing because it shows how God has planned every moment to be beautiful. Sometimes I get caught up in making timelines in what I want to see, when God is telling me, “Hey Sarah? Look what I’m doing. It’s a beautiful thing.” Sometimes God wants to use us when we tell Him we want to take a time out. Philippians 2:13 says, “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” How can I stop God’s will in my life. We have learned that in His time, everything is beautiful.

I want amazing things to happen in my life. I don’t want to stop the good things that He has planned for me because I’ve planned how my walk with the Lord is going to look like. “The heart of man plans his ways, but the Lord establishes his steps”-Proverbs 16:9. Now if you’re taking time off from girls or guys to focus your heart on God, I’m so excited for you! I pray that these times with the Lord will be amazing & He will speak to you. But from what I’ve learned, watch out for putting limits on God. We might not see the good things He has in front of us when we are thinking “I have 3 months to go. I hope these last few months with God is going to be awesome!” Every day with God should be awesome.

Give God your attention fully. Be in synch with His time. God knows that a desire of my heart is to fall in love with man of God. But during this time of waiting, I should constantly be falling more in love with the Lord, not just putting out a few months of my life out there. Our time together is beautiful.

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”-Psalm 37:4.
“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him”-Psalm 37:7. 

God ALWAYS provides!

A couple of weeks ago I was sitting in my living room listening to my mom say “Remember you have to pay for your car, your loan, & the kid you sponsor.” My reply was, “I know mom, I got it covered. But I’m really stressed out & you’re not helping the situation whatsoever.” I was not in the mood to hear about how much of my non-existent savings had to be distributed. I stress out over the littlest things! It’s hard when you work at a place that doesn’t give you many hours. Then with those checks you try to distribute everything evenly with just having $10 left to spare for a week. That doesn’t even include gas! GAH, just thinking about it makes me stressed out.

God tells us he is our PROVIDER. Woah, that’s powerful! I am constantly forgetting that God will provide. Philippians 4:19 clearly defines that God will provide. It says in the Message, “You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, His generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus.” I know some very generous people in my life but God exceeds even more than they can possibly can!

It’s easy to get caught up and worry about the struggles you have. I feel like 80% of the people in my life are constantly worrying. When they worry, I think about my problems and worry also. I love hanging out with the 20% who are totally chill. They know God has everything under control. The have this amazing amount of peace in my life (something I lack but I’m working on). I love the verse from Matthew 6:26. It says, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” Think about it. We have a plethora of birds & God provides for them! We are much more valuable to God than birds. So God definitely has control in our situations.

This is how I knew God provided. I paid for everything with a crazy amount of money left over. That never happens. Checks from my 3 jobs came in and it covered everything. The stressing is over. I know that God isn’t going to abandon me! He is on my side. He loves me. Psalms 46:1-3 says,  “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.”