Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will judge everyone according to what they have done. He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness. Romans 2:4-8
For some
people, the word “home” is not a warm and fuzzy safe kind
of word; it’s more like a red flag that brings painful images, memories of
abuse. It wasn’t supposed to be that
way, but the truth is all too stark to ignore, and the scars won’t let you
totally forget.
My experience
is just the opposite. My parents were
not wealthy; I guess you could say we were middle class,
somewhere just above the poverty line. At
times we ate a LOT of potatoes because it was easier to
feed a family of four that way. One area
of the Brownworth home where wealth flowed generously was
in kindness. For me, the road leading back
home was always a welcome road, a place of good memories with a strong
pull towards the open door.
When I think
back on that I cannot, for the life of me, wrap my mind around why I rebelled
against the faith that so graciously helped form that good home and
childhood. I did exactly what the
Apostle Paul wrote to the Roman church…lived for myself, refusing to obey
the truth.
In my case
this wasn’t illegal stuff, like being a bank robber or a serial killer. Rather it was just leaving God out of my
life, trying to build a little kingdom of my own. It was my choices, my happiness, my way that
mattered, not God. I had no drive to be
the next king, or president. I just
wanted to be left alone to do what I wanted to do.
What
eventually turned me back to the road that leads home is also what Paul wrote,
about how patiently God waits for us; it is a loving patience that doesn’t
approve of willfulness, but graciously waits like the father of the prodigal
son.
My goal, as
a pastor, has always been to help the churches with which I’ve served create an
atmosphere of gracious waiting. What I’ve
found out about that is you cannot be that unless you’re intentional about
it. It’s not easy to wait. But, oh, how it’s worth it. The Apostle Paul overflowed with joy and
thanksgiving for the faithfulness of the people to which he’d ministered; their
responding to his letters with responsible service to Christ filled Paul’s
heart with grateful thanksgiving.
I think
there are but two components to waiting as a loving parent:
· Speaking Truth in Love
Paul never
hesitated to tell the truth. My parents
were a study in this. They were
gracious, but never patronizing. In the
end, the road that leads back to a home worthy of wanting to go home, is never
false; only truth is a worthy foundation.
· Readiness to Welcome
Once the
Apostle spoke truth, a hard truth, particularly, he was then willing to be a
silent waiter – with open arms. That
waiting, hard as it is, is necessary, because, especially in my case, truth
takes a while to weed-out what needs to go.
Sometime back
I bought some inferior grass and weed killer.
It made claims of being the best.
You could see some results in a few hours, but two weeks later the weeds
were back. Lesson learned! When I paid the price of using the good
stuff, it took a few days to see the results, but those weeds were evicted;
they must’ve gone into witness protection, because nobody’s heard from them in
a while.
Readiness to
welcome back the one who travels the road home (to God) is like using the good
stuff of truth and waiting. You want
results right away, but time is required, and God is faithful.
So, don’t be
in a hurry; instead, as you wait, be in prayer.
Title image Pixabay.com ∞
Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
For another post on activating your faith, see The God of Equal Opportunity and
While You’re
Waiting for God to Answer Series: Part
1 and Part
2 and Part
3 and Part
4 and Part
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