Patience part 3
There's a quote by Rudyard Kipling--or perhaps a paraphrase--that goes, "If you can keep your wits with you while all others are losing theirs', the world is yours." Or, in other words, "In your patience possess ye your souls" (Luke 21:19). When you lose your cool... you lose yourself. You stop being who you are and you start being someone less. Let me quote another of my favorite Bible verses, this one from the Message Bible, "Jesus didn't hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, "Faint-heart, what got into you?"" (Matthew 14:31). This is when Peter was walking on water with Jesus. Or, more accurately, walking on the Word of the Lord. Because it was Jesus saying, "Come," when Peter asked if he could that really empowered the disciple. It wasn't about the water. It was about trusting Jesus. Obedience is a trust issue. If you believe that your heavenly Father has your best interests at heart... it won't be a problem for you to do what you're told to do. In fact, you'll be able to understand that what God wants for you is the best thing going. You'll be right there with Him. On the same page. You'll WANT to do what He wants you to do. Which, by the way, in a Word, is love. He wants you to love. To be loved and to love Him back by loving others with that love. To receive and release His love. That's what this life is for. That's why we were created. That's what it's all about. Now, having said all that, patience is so important to love. Because love does not demand its (HIS) own way. God knows what's best for you. He wants what's best for you. But He's not going to force it on you. He makes things available. He makes the Way (and the Truth, and the Life) of Grace. And then we respond with the Walk of Faith. He shows us the Way, and then equips and empowers us to walk it. With Him. As He walks it Himself in us, and through us, and as us. Nobody can live Jesus's life except Jesus. All we have to do is let Him. All we have to do is rest in His loving arms. All we have to do is be cool. Do things heartily--to the best of our ability, because they are in our hearts to do them--from a posture of rest. We don't have to fix every single problem in the world. Which is good... because we can't. You weren't called or created to be a world changer. You were called and created to love. Which, by the way, WILL change the worlds of the people you are loving. If you want to change the world, go home and love your family, right? It's that simple. We don't have to wear ourselves out trying to be someone we're not. Or trying to do things we weren't meant to do. Sometimes things need to happen. Sometimes we can't stop it, because we aren't supposed to. Some things we need to go through in order to get where we're going. The key is make sure we're going through things instead of letting things go through us. Jesus asked "What got into you?" Because it's supposed to be what's ALREADY in us--the love of God--getting OUT of us. Not the other way around. But we get so caught up with the storm sometimes that we lose sight of the Lord. Don't tell God how big the storm is. Tell the storm how big God is! Don't let things get into you. Let things get out of you! Don't lose your cool, or your true self, or your soul. Be patient. Let things play out. And help where you can!