Monday, January 20, 2014

Patience

Monday, January 20, 2014
Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return.  Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring.  They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen.  You, too, must be patient.  Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near.   James 5:7 - 8 (NLT)
In Jacksonville, Florida two decades ago, I read about 5 year-old Tommy Stowell.   Tommy was on a very long Christmas shopping excursion with his Mom, Linda.  He thought he deserved a reward for being so good, so he nagged Linda for a toy.  She refused. 

On the way home Tommy sulked for a while.  Then, kneeling down behind the driver's seat, Tommy cupped his hands over his mouth, and said in the deepest, booming voice a 5 year-old could muster, Linda, this is God.  You should buy Tommy whatever he wants.[1]

Despite how life seems to trudge along sometimes, don't get impatient.  Impersonating God, trying to call the shots, run the world, or manipulate your Mom, carries an awful burden. 

Rather, wait patiently, and let the Lord decide.  Jesus is the Master Gardener, and he knows when the time will be ripe to settle everything.  We are not to grow impatient with the way He handles things.  




[1] (Jacksonville Times Union 1992)

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