Patience part 3
The biggest thing, in my opinion, about having patience is understanding that things don't always go according to your timeframe. Nor, necessarily, should they. Especially when it comes to other people. If you expect someone to do something your way, in your time, all you're really doing is setting them up for failure and you up for frustration. Seriously: If you want to be disappointed, set expectations. If you want to get along, and remember Romans 12:18 (NLT) says, "Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone," you have to let people be who THEY are... not who YOU wish they were. Because here's the deal: People are going to be who they are whether you "let" them or not. If you're always getting upset because people aren't doing what you want them to do... that's on you. That's called you being selfish. But if you can let people be who THEY are, and love them anyway... in fact, love them for WHO they are... that's something completely different. That's something powerful. That's, really, what love is. Love is giving. Love is patient and kind. Love edifies. It builds people up instead of tearing them down. So what I'm trying to say is, let things be what they are. You don't have to (and can't) control everything. Do what you can do and don't worry about the rest of it. When you let go and let God, that's when things start to flow. When you can be still and know that HE is God... that HE is in control... that's when you don't have to be. You can stop running around like a chicken with its head cut off and you can rest. Rest, of course, not being inactivity, but being Holy Spirit directed activity. And the Holy Spirit doesn't direct us to change people. The Holy Spirit in YOU will convict YOU. The Holy Spirit in someone else will convict them. It's not your job to "fix" people or "change" people. It's your job to love people. Period. Full stop. And when you love people, when you show them who God is by showing them who (and what) love is... by giving them what God has given you--mercy, forgiveness, grace, patience, longsuffering... all of thost fruits of the Spirit... LOVE--that's when people can be who they REALLY are. Which is who they are in Christ. Which is who Christ is in them. So take a page out of the Beatles book and let it be. Take another one out and understand that love is all we need. If you're being patient with someone it is because you love them. And I believe that is one of the best ways to show someone that you love them. Instead of flying off the handle or making mountains out of molehills... instead of giving people what THEY expect (I messed up, he's going to be mad and punish me)... show people a more excellent way. That way, by the way, is Jesus. Love. Actions have consequences, but that doesn't mean God is in the punishing business. In fact, God has always been in the forgiveness business. The patience business. Look at 2 Peter 3:9 (NLT), "The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent." And while I could (and might) write a whole Rant about that verse and that truth, for today I just want to point out that God is not saying, "Repent or I'll destroy you." Repentance is thinking differently about something in light of something else. The cross is that "something else" that allows us to think differently about everything. It equips and empowers us to stop perishing and have everlasting life as we believe in Jesus. That's what God wants for everybody, and that's why He's patient with everybody!