October 2nd – Patience Like His

Taking It to Work:

One of the most incredible aspects of God, and one I am going to lay on my face and thank Him for profusely when I see Him face to face, is His patience with me. Out of all His displays of love…His patience and forgiveness toward me is the most moving, and the most convicting.

At work, I am just naturally very task oriented, and I would guess wherever your workplace is, tasks and deadlines are a big part of it as well. If you are a manager or supervisor of others, handling missed deadlines is part of the job. If your a parent, handling dishonesty and disobedience comes with the territory. In each of these roles, patience with people and forgiveness for failures plays an integral part of well we do our jobs.

Now analyze that statement: “…how well we do our jobs.” Who defines that? Are we successful when we check the most boxes, or are we successful when the Lord smiles of how we got the boxes checked. Did the project get finished at the expense of our Christian reputation, or did the room finally get cleaned when we screamed at the top of our lungs?

The Bible says we are to be imitators of God. Not just on Sunday when the tasks and frustrations of life are temporarily set aside, but Monday through Friday when the pressure is on and the people of the world, including the little people, are not living up to expectations.

I look at the decades of my life, walking with the Lord now over forty years, and still making stupid mistakes, still disappointing, still not the man I or the Lord would like me to be by now, and yet, His patience is undaunted. His love and forgiveness, even though I don’t understand how He puts up with me, are still there, unaltered from the day I first bowed before Him.

How do I reflect that? It is my prayer that I will someday do it well. My workplace, my home, and this very frustrating world is where He calls me to practice. To follow His lead. To treat others as He has treated me.

Who’s in your workplace today that needs patience, who at home do you need to forgive again, for the hundredth time, just like you have be forgiven a hundred times?

There is a great reflection of God’s power in a person who has good reason, full rights, and all the power and authority to hammer someone when they deserve it, but chooses instead to forgive and give grace to someone just to allow them another chance to get it right.

The reality is, losing patience with others is easy. We have high expectations of the people around us. As an employer or customer, we expect our money’s worth, and as employees and contractors, we expect to be treated and paid fairly. When someone lets us down, or acts in a way that is clearly wrong, we can quickly become angry or annoyed.

The reminder today is two-fold. First, God has been, and continues to be, very patient with us when we are constantly messing up. We can’t forget that. Secondly, we are called to be His reflection of patience to others. Too often, we make excuses for our own behavior, and accuse others of the worst motivations, and treat them such. This is not what Jesus modeled for us, nor how God has treated us in our slow, sometimes even disobedient maturing. He has patience with us over and over again, let’s reflect the same with others, as His Word, works in you today.

Num 14:8 (ESV) – ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression…

Eph 5:1 (ESV) – Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.

Ex 34:6 (ESV) – The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,

1 Timothy 1:16 (NIV) – But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.

Ps 86:15 (ESV) – But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth.

Listening to the Holy Spirit (Rhema):

Without end is the patience of the Father. Many a sin, but love remains. The call of the lost remains until it is heard no more by the called. Many are invited, the gate open, and they pass by. Some enter, but give only lips, with no heart. I call them closer, but sin remains their god – within the fold, but not yet of the fold. Among the holy they walk, but not yet holy. The response of the heart is not always of the feet, yet the patience of God does not cease. The heart of the lost is not hardened by the Father, until it is first set as stone by he who has rejected My hope. Pride is a great wall, casting flesh as stone in sin, that the heart should reject all that is God, but he who remains in hope, even in great sin, there is patience in the wait. A bruised reed is not broken. My life is the light to men, and the Father’s great love extends patience to both he who is saved, and he who shall be saved. You know not who is truly lost, nor he who is truly saved, but to great patience you are called, as the reflection of He who saved you. I give you My Spirit, that you would bear patiently with all. You were once as they, and the sin you harbor still is not as it should be. The Father’s love continues through your window, so too your patience with them.