Don't make me wait for anything: Chapter 20
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Simple6
Posts: 170 Member
Impatience is the fruit of pride!
Let me start off saying that impatience has been my normal response for most of my life and often still is. As I read this chapter I began to examine the places I see it operating. I asked the Lord to show me.....what I saw was startling to me. He showed me it in my parenting and in my thoughts about myself but mainly, it is in my relationship with my husband. I struggle with patience with the one I love the most.
I am a quick, efficient person. I speak and think directly and quickly. My beloved does not. He was born in a different country where life's pace is very much relaxed and discussion is long detail stories. Oh how my patience is tried........or rather my idea of who my husband should be and act is tested. The truth is, I think more highly of my way of doing and being than I do of my husband. I have allowed my own understanding of how my husband should be, be more important than who he really is and how I know God is.
Colossians 3:12 (AMP)
12 Clothe yourselves therefore, as God’s own chosen ones (His own picked representatives), [who are] purified and holy and well-beloved [by God Himself, by putting on behavior marked by] tenderhearted pity and mercy, kind feeling, a lowly opinion of yourselves, gentle ways, [and] patience [which is tireless and long-suffering, and has the power to endure whatever comes, with good temper].
This is God's answer......I have been wearing designer Jenni( a God knock off) and not His clothes. It is my job to know what I am wearing and what I am supposed to be wearing. This week I repent for wearing impatience and pride. God's plan for me is to be clothed as His chosen one for my beloved husband and everyone else that I am impatient with. I am God's well beloved one. Because I feel His cherishment, my behavior is changed( it is always about His ability and power and not mine). I become tenderhearted, full of mercy and kindness. I know who God says I am and I agree with Him, allowing His Spirit to lead my life and not my own understanding or logic. I am gentle. I have tireless long-suffering. I have the power to endure whatever comes WITH GOOD TEMPER!
Wait.....GOOD TEMPER? What is good temper? It is my emotional power controlled and dependent on the Holy Spirit. BAD TEMPER is when I choose to try and control my own emotions( which really means out of control emotional melt downs). God knew that about me, so just like everything else, He has made provision for me in this. It is called the fruit of the Spirit.
The more I invite the Lord to reign in my emotions, through allowing my mind to be renewed, the more victory I walk in. I have never seen in scriptures where Jesus was impatient. I do see many places He should have been but was not. He is my focus. He said in John 14:12-16 " Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." One of the many works of Jesus was and is patience and endurance. He had good temper. I already shared with you my bad temper, according to me, but according to this scripture, Jesus has given me the ability to do the same things He did. So, my impatience needs to fade as my focus. Jesus needs to come into distinct focus, His patience is something He has given me the ability to operate.
The Israelites in Number' s 21:4 faced trials and "the people became impatient (depressed, much discouraged), because of the trials of the way. After 25 years of marriage, I tend to focus on the trials of my marriage, specifically my need for speed and my husbands turtley ways. What then happens is my dissatisfaction becomes my source of attitude, instead of all the many wonderful and excellent things my husband is. I heard the Lord say to me as I read this chapter "Whatever your focus is on becomes your source or measure of standard. Anything other then God is imperfect and will lead to crooked and skewed results." My heart is to love my husband with excellence, not crooked and skewed ways(impatience and pride).
Joyce writes:
Hebrews 10:36 For you have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive and carry away [and enjoy to the full] what is promised.
This scripture tells us that without patience and endurance we will not receive the promises of God. And Hebrews 6:12 tells us that it is only through faith and patience that we inherit the promises.
The proud man runs in the strength of his own flesh and tries to make things happen in his own timing. Pride says, "I 'm ready now!" Humility says, "God knows best, and He will not be late!"
A humble man waits patiently; he actually has a reverential fear of moving the strength of his own flesh, but a proud man tries one thing after another, all too no avail.
Jenni's way has not worked. It has produced hurt feelings and hardened hearts. I am ready to let the Lord lead in this. One of the covenant names of God is "I AM." When I look at the word "impatient" I see "I'M PATIENT." It represents me trying to do it in my own power or with a little bit of "I AM and a lot of me. I can't! I know because I have tried and tried. But when I allow God His rightful place....it becomes "I AM PATIENT. As I allow the great "I AM" to rule in my emotions and thoughts, it opens the path for me to not only do the things Jesus did but greater things as well. He will give me the power to patiently endure to perform and fully complete His will concerning being the wife of my Gabriel.
Father,
I ask you to help me humble my heart. Help me to choose You by focusing on what You are and what You have graced me with instead of what I am not and how I have failed. I ask you to reign in my emotions and thoughts. Help me not to just know it in my head but to practice it in everyday moments. By faith I just activate the fruit of Your Holy Spirit by practicing it with my husband. Gabriel is the perfect fit for me, because you designed him so(turtley ways and all). In Jesus Name, Amen.
Let me start off saying that impatience has been my normal response for most of my life and often still is. As I read this chapter I began to examine the places I see it operating. I asked the Lord to show me.....what I saw was startling to me. He showed me it in my parenting and in my thoughts about myself but mainly, it is in my relationship with my husband. I struggle with patience with the one I love the most.
I am a quick, efficient person. I speak and think directly and quickly. My beloved does not. He was born in a different country where life's pace is very much relaxed and discussion is long detail stories. Oh how my patience is tried........or rather my idea of who my husband should be and act is tested. The truth is, I think more highly of my way of doing and being than I do of my husband. I have allowed my own understanding of how my husband should be, be more important than who he really is and how I know God is.
Colossians 3:12 (AMP)
12 Clothe yourselves therefore, as God’s own chosen ones (His own picked representatives), [who are] purified and holy and well-beloved [by God Himself, by putting on behavior marked by] tenderhearted pity and mercy, kind feeling, a lowly opinion of yourselves, gentle ways, [and] patience [which is tireless and long-suffering, and has the power to endure whatever comes, with good temper].
This is God's answer......I have been wearing designer Jenni( a God knock off) and not His clothes. It is my job to know what I am wearing and what I am supposed to be wearing. This week I repent for wearing impatience and pride. God's plan for me is to be clothed as His chosen one for my beloved husband and everyone else that I am impatient with. I am God's well beloved one. Because I feel His cherishment, my behavior is changed( it is always about His ability and power and not mine). I become tenderhearted, full of mercy and kindness. I know who God says I am and I agree with Him, allowing His Spirit to lead my life and not my own understanding or logic. I am gentle. I have tireless long-suffering. I have the power to endure whatever comes WITH GOOD TEMPER!
Wait.....GOOD TEMPER? What is good temper? It is my emotional power controlled and dependent on the Holy Spirit. BAD TEMPER is when I choose to try and control my own emotions( which really means out of control emotional melt downs). God knew that about me, so just like everything else, He has made provision for me in this. It is called the fruit of the Spirit.
The more I invite the Lord to reign in my emotions, through allowing my mind to be renewed, the more victory I walk in. I have never seen in scriptures where Jesus was impatient. I do see many places He should have been but was not. He is my focus. He said in John 14:12-16 " Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." One of the many works of Jesus was and is patience and endurance. He had good temper. I already shared with you my bad temper, according to me, but according to this scripture, Jesus has given me the ability to do the same things He did. So, my impatience needs to fade as my focus. Jesus needs to come into distinct focus, His patience is something He has given me the ability to operate.
The Israelites in Number' s 21:4 faced trials and "the people became impatient (depressed, much discouraged), because of the trials of the way. After 25 years of marriage, I tend to focus on the trials of my marriage, specifically my need for speed and my husbands turtley ways. What then happens is my dissatisfaction becomes my source of attitude, instead of all the many wonderful and excellent things my husband is. I heard the Lord say to me as I read this chapter "Whatever your focus is on becomes your source or measure of standard. Anything other then God is imperfect and will lead to crooked and skewed results." My heart is to love my husband with excellence, not crooked and skewed ways(impatience and pride).
Joyce writes:
Hebrews 10:36 For you have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive and carry away [and enjoy to the full] what is promised.
This scripture tells us that without patience and endurance we will not receive the promises of God. And Hebrews 6:12 tells us that it is only through faith and patience that we inherit the promises.
The proud man runs in the strength of his own flesh and tries to make things happen in his own timing. Pride says, "I 'm ready now!" Humility says, "God knows best, and He will not be late!"
A humble man waits patiently; he actually has a reverential fear of moving the strength of his own flesh, but a proud man tries one thing after another, all too no avail.
Jenni's way has not worked. It has produced hurt feelings and hardened hearts. I am ready to let the Lord lead in this. One of the covenant names of God is "I AM." When I look at the word "impatient" I see "I'M PATIENT." It represents me trying to do it in my own power or with a little bit of "I AM and a lot of me. I can't! I know because I have tried and tried. But when I allow God His rightful place....it becomes "I AM PATIENT. As I allow the great "I AM" to rule in my emotions and thoughts, it opens the path for me to not only do the things Jesus did but greater things as well. He will give me the power to patiently endure to perform and fully complete His will concerning being the wife of my Gabriel.
Father,
I ask you to help me humble my heart. Help me to choose You by focusing on what You are and what You have graced me with instead of what I am not and how I have failed. I ask you to reign in my emotions and thoughts. Help me not to just know it in my head but to practice it in everyday moments. By faith I just activate the fruit of Your Holy Spirit by practicing it with my husband. Gabriel is the perfect fit for me, because you designed him so(turtley ways and all). In Jesus Name, Amen.
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Joyce writes..."Remember: it is pride that is at the root of impatience. When you are tempted to become frustrated and impatient, I commend that you begin to say, Lord, I want Your will in Your timing. I do not want to be ahead of You, nor do I want to be behind You. Help me, Father, to wait patiently on You.”
Anticipating can make you either excited or impatient, at least it does me.
The focus of this chapter is how we are waiting on God -mainly if we are prideful and impatient. It reminded me of the famous T.V. commercial for Heinz ketchup that shows a ketchup bottle tilled up and the ever soooo slowww ketchup moving down the neck of the bottle to the plate of sizzling hot French fries piled high on a platter in front of some dude at the dinner listening to Carly Simons’ song playing in the back ground….”Anticipation, anticipaaaationnnn is making me waaaittttt and driving my craaazzzy.” We have come a long way since the ‘70’s to today where we have an upside down plastic squeezable ketchup bottle (through the brilliant innovations of some dude) - to ease our troubled minds and get our ketchup on those hot fries quickly! :laugh:
It takes a lot of discipline to wait. It takes patience to please God. It requires us to release control of what we think, how we want things, and who we are in the picture. Joyce states for us to “remember it is pride that is at the root of impatience.” If we get ahead of God then we can’t know His direction because we have hastily run down a path of our own choosing and left Him behind. Patience can not only save time - it can also save your life. If we create our own solution to resolve the situation instead of waiting for God to bring His provision, we will find that it was not enough and lasted only temporary at best. If our ideas take precedent before we trust for God’s will in our matter…well, we not only waste our time but we denied God the opportunity to show His faithfulness and His will for us.
I recently shared with a friend that I was a radical Christian. My early teen years were part of the '70's “Jesus Movement” and I was called a Jesus “freak” by most of my close friends. I let my friends influence me away from my Christianity for all the wrong reasons. Like all new Christians, you are vulnerable. But over time you become seasoned through the lessons learned along the way in your walk of faith in God. I remember one time (late twenty’s) someone asked how can I believe so strongly in just one type of faith, in trusting in one God alone when there are many gods out there and why should a person wait on a answer to what is the will of God -instead of making decision for your own way in life. My answer was simple and remains the same to this day. I said…”God has brought the gift of eternal life and forgiveness of sin by His son Jesus Christ. Freely is was given and we have the free will to accept Him into our heart and walk in His ways. The choice is always ours. Always. We can believe it or we can deny it. But know this, everyone has a master in the end when they die. In the end you will know the truth. So the question becomes… will it set you free or will it condemn you? I choose to accept Him in faith and it is in that same faith that I walk today, tomorrow…till Heaven. I’m faulty…but Jesus is Faultless and if I can trust in Him for my eternal life…I can trust in Him for my daily life, too.” Since then I've learned...I just buckle up when it get's a little bumpy" in my life.
My devotion is Ephesians 2:3-10….VS.10..”For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
My prayer is: "Father God…..What’s not to LOVE about YOU!!! Thank you for showing me over the years that I can patiently wait on you for all things…because your word tells me that we are your workmanship…and in Jesus we can do good works…which in your unfailing love for us have prepared in advance to bless us with…in…and through." amen
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You two are SO encouraging! I just read through what you wrote about this chapter and I feel so uplifted! THANK YOU! You have a wonderful way with words, both of you, and you minister to me so much!
Jenni - I SO sympathise with your "cross-cultural issues" with your husband. My husband comes from a similar background in many ways to yours, and he does not understand my "impatience" issues!! I guess we live in an all too instant society (as Zoey said in her ketchup comparison - interesting that we HAD to get an invention made to get the red stuff on to those fires quicker!) If it is TOO slow, we will MAKE it happen faster. How unlike God's plan that is!
One of the things I have learnt (NO - I am learning! Not learnt it completely yet!) by living here in Africa is the whole concept of "Africa time" - yes, often an excuse for being late for a meeting, but more often people are genuinely late because something came up and that something was more often than not a person and relationship here always takes precedence over a meeting/ work. I get SO very impatient sometimes with that (I am a task orientated person. A lawyer, to whom "time is money" in so many senses!) However, theirs is the RIGHT attitude more often than not - people do matter more than my To-Do list. Even if it is only someone who wants to greet and could have come at another time! So I bite my tongue, show some hospitality, and get to my list later! But often the attitude underneath my outwardly good reaction, is not so great!
To carry on from what I just posted in the Chapter 19 thread, patience is an ATTITUDE (not the ability to wait, but the good attitude while waiting). Joyce writes: "Our job is not to control our circumstances, but to respond to them in a godly way." I so often need to be more aware of this! In the big issues of life, and in the small everyday ones (visitors, interaction with my husband or kids, etc)
I can not end this post any better than repeating Joyce's prayer and making it my own:
"Lord, I want your will in your timing. I don't want to be ahead of you, nor do I want to be behind you. Help me, Father, to wait patiently on you!"0 -
One of the things I have learnt (NO - I am learning! Not learnt it completely yet!) by living here in Africa is the whole concept of "Africa time" - yes, often an excuse for being late for a meeting, but more often people are genuinely late because something came up and that something was more often than not a person and relationship here always takes precedence over a meeting/ work. I get SO very impatient sometimes with that (I am a task orientated person. A lawyer, to whom "time is money" in so many senses!) However, theirs is the RIGHT attitude more often than not - people do matter more than my To-Do list. Even if it is only someone who wants to greet and could have come at another time! So I bite my tongue, show some hospitality, and get to my list later! But often the attitude underneath my outwardly good reaction, is not so great!
To carry on from what I just posted in the Chapter 19 thread, patience is an ATTITUDE (not the ability to wait, but the good attitude while waiting). Joyce writes: "Our job is not to control our circumstances, but to respond to them in a godly way." I so often need to be more aware of this! In the big issues of life, and in the small everyday ones (visitors, interaction with my husband or kids, etc)
I can not end this post any better than repeating Joyce's prayer and making it my own:
"Lord, I want your will in your timing. I don't want to be ahead of you, nor do I want to be behind you. Help me, Father, to wait patiently on you!"
Ali,
I always feel encouraged when I read what you share. It seems like you share just what I need to hear, when I need to hear it. I love that you are putting your focus on letting people matter, instead of my tasks. As I look at this in greater depth, I see how self centered I can become as I focus on my task. I felt my heart greatly convicted over Jenni worship. As I am learning from Joyce and from you all, I feel these old ways of acting come into light and begin to change. Just like you quoted Joyce, I want to let God be in control and I to be submitted so my response will be Godly. Some times, I feel like I have a learning disability in this area. Then God showed me I truly do.....I need to disable my ability and take on His. LOL!0 -
Ali,
I always feel encouraged when I read what you share. It seems like you share just what I need to hear, when I need to hear it. I love that you are putting your focus on letting people matter, instead of my tasks. As I look at this in greater depth, I see how self centered I can become as I focus on my task. I felt my heart greatly convicted over Jenni worship. As I am learning from Joyce and from you all, I feel these old ways of acting come into light and begin to change. Just like you quoted Joyce, I want to let God be in control and I to be submitted so my response will be Godly. Some times, I feel like I have a learning disability in this area. Then God showed me I truly do.....I need to disable my ability and take on His. LOL!
Praising God that I am able to encourage you as much as you encourage me! I love how God has brought us together - and I love being able to study His word with you even though we can't physically be in the same place.
And you dis-ability comment is GREAT! Will have to remind myself of that - regularly!
Have a GREAT week my friend!0
