Patience

I was driving home from church yesterday dealing with some stuff as usual. When I drive I tend to think and think and think, some would say think too much, and there may be some truth to that, but I also spend the time conversing with God.  While God and I were talking about my life I kept coming back to the chorus to an old Guns n Roses Song, Patience. (As an aside, this is the second time a Guns n Roses song has made an essay, what’s up with that?)

little patience, mm yeah, mm yeah
need a little patience, yeah
just a little patience, yeah
some more patience, yeah
need some patience, yeah
could use some patience, yeah
gotta have some patience, yeah
all it takes is patience, just a little patience is all you need  

While this was on my mind, a ministry message came over ReachFM which also talked about patience.  OK, confirmation from the Lord is always something to pay attention too. The answers to the questions I was asking on the drive home could probably be resolved with the application of patience.  

Two verses immediately came to mind, Galatians 5:22-23 and 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.”   

 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

- 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.

While I have head knowledge, it sometimes takes awhile for heart knowledge to work in me. I should be better at patience. I originally wrote about it years ago in my essay on relationships (also on this blog).  At that time I wrote:

“There is nothing in this passage (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) that speaks to being in a rush. In fact patience and perseverance are mentioned, and mean quite the opposite.

Patience is defined:  a virtue, is the capacity of enduring hardship or inconvenience, emphasizes calmness, self-control, and the willingness or ability to tolerate delay. Its opposite is weakness.

Perseverance is defined: a virtue, implies persistence, endurance, hardiness, fortitude, stamina, robustness and tolerance. It is constant persistence in a course of action, purpose, or state, steadfast pursuit of an aim, tenacious assiduity or endeavor.”

You see, my problem with patience today is that I know some of the promises God has for me and I have been praying for some for 20 years.  Yet 20 years later I am still waiting for them to be fulfilled. Sometimes my patience wears thin and I wonder if they’ll ever be fulfilled.  Scripture is clear 

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” – Matthew 7:7-8

But it is also clear

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.- Ecclesiates 3:11

Everything will be done for God’s glory in God’s time not in our time.

Even David had to wait for the Lord. 

I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.  He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord

 -Psalm 40:1-3

And now to the crux of today's matter.  One of my dreams is to be married and have a family. I’ve prayed that prayer for 20 years. As I mentioned to a friend over the summer, I’d love to read a bedtime story to my kid(s), take a walk with the most beautiful woman in the world,  my wife, sit down to a family dinner, watch a movie with my kids, build a snowman, go fishing, take a hike, give my wife poetry,  heck even help with homework, ask my wife how her day went and just talk, play board games, listen to the quiet after the kids go to bed, sit on a porch swing 30 years from now watching grand-kids play, give my wife flowers, to grow old with my best friend and so on. However, at this time none of this is possible for me and I get frustrated at times because I am getting older.  However, I have hope that these things will come to pass since God has not taken this desire away from me. 

But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. - Romans 8:25

Therefore, while hard at times I will hope in the Lord and wait patiently.

Knock, Knock, Knocking on Heaven’s Door

OK, so the title is a knock off (pun intended) of a Guns n Roses song from the late 80’s that I remember from my high school days.  Actually, I learned while typing this essay that the song goes back to Bob Dylan, but I digress.  I’ve been really focusing, almost meditating on some scriptures the past few months while trying to determine God’s purpose for my life, and the direction I need to take.  These verses include some favorites.

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” – Matthew 7:7-8

“I tell you the truth, anyone has faith in me will do what I have been doing.  He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the son may bring glory to the Father.  You may ask for anything in my name, and I will do it. If you love me, you will obey what I command” – John 14:12-15

As I said, I have been praying for months for guidance, and not really hearing anything from God other than to walk the path.  I was beginning to wonder what the heck was going on. I was driving home in a snowstorm talking to God asking him what the heck he was trying to teach and exactly what I was supposed to learn.  Then I read Daniel and had an ”Oh Crap” moment. To quote Pastor Mark Sterlace,

“Daniel was moved by what motivated God; he was moved by what was on the heart of God.  His desires became God’s desires, and he desired to see a great move of God in his nation. So he began to cry out to God the desires of God.” 

Was I focusing on the desires of God? Was I making his desires my own? Was the reason I wasn’t seeing the fulfillment of Matthew 7:7-8 and John 14:12-15 because the prayers I was praying didn’t help Jesus to bring glory to the Father?   

A few weeks later I was at another bible study and we read Proverbs 16:9 “In his heart man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.”  In other words, plan ahead, yet submit to the will of God.  I am always amazed by the power in the book of Proverbs.

Seasons of Life

I originally wrote this essay in 2007. I was in a different Season of Life then and I've been through a few seasons since then and I'm currently in a season of waiting patiently. I am not good at this so God brings me through this season often, UGH!! However, I wanted to share this post with others.

I am enjoying a great time in my life right now. I have been happier over the last few months than I have been in awhile.  Work continues to demand much of my time, but the Lord has blessed me in other areas of my life, and like Paul says in Philippians 4:11b  “I have learned to be content whatever the cirumstance.”  Well, maybe still learning, not completely learned.  Even though life is good right now, for some reason, in the back of my mind, I can hear Dorald Kleitz, wife of Crossroads Senior Pastor, Pat Kleitz, saying “For a season.”  I’d never heard this phrase prior to attending Crossroads. The first time I recall hearing it, Dorald was talking about how our lives go through seasons and how like the changing of the seasons (This a great benefit of Western New York, we have four seasons) God will bring people into our lives for His purposes.  Throughout the fabric of time, we cross paths with thousands of people, many of whom affect our lives, and many of whom we affect.  We were meant to be relational, this is a great truth of God, and you will rarely find a hermit christian with a vibrant active faith.  We need each other. 

However, being the selfish man I am, and this is my flesh talking, I don’t like seasons, I want everything to stay just how it is now. I want to continue to enjoy the relationships I have formed now. I’d like to DVR my last 3 months so I could replay them, like the movie Groundhog Day.  For the really special moments/memories I’d like to take the lead of the Jim Croce song “Time in a Bottle.”

If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I’d like to do
Is to save every day
Till eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you

If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
I’d save every day like a treasure and then,
Again, I would spend them with you

Chorus
But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them
I’ve looked around enough to know
That youre the one I want to go
Through time with

If I had a box just for wishes
And dreams that had never come true
The box would be empty
Except for the memory
Of how they were answered by you

Repeat Chorus

Obviously, this isn’t possible, which got me to thinking about what the Bible had to say on the subject.  The first passage that popped into my head, yes popped, was Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. These verses are know to many having been adopted by the Byrds as the popular 1960’s hit song “Turn Turn Turn”.

A Time for Everything

 1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:

 2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,

 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,

 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,

 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,

 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

Why? Why are there seasons? Why do we continue to look forward? Why as Paul says in Phillipians 3:12-14 do we press on to the goal.  I think a reason can be found back in the book of Ecclesiastes,verses 3:10-11

“I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

We are wired that way. As much as I love my life at this moment, I will not continue to grow as a Christian man, if I do not press on. Unfortunately, this means my life will have seasons, but I will have memories to look back upon and cherish.  I don’t know what other seasons God has for me in the future. I’d like a long season as husband and a father, God willing.  Being a grandparent sounds like a great time too, but that’s way off.  There could be seasons of hardship, seasons of sadness, seasons of love and hope. I won’t know until I get there. I only know that as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.

First Impressions

Those who know me well have come to know I often have totally random thoughts. These thoughts, being totally random, have no relationship to whatever I was doing at the time.  They often occur while driving.  It's like my brain is on shuffle mode spitting out facts, memories, and anecdotes from years gone by.  Recently, a random memory out of the blue and took me back to freshman year at Fredonia State College.  You see, I was not a social butterfly in high school and I was determined to change my personality going into college. I was determined to be cooler than I was in high school.  In order to be cooler, in my mind, I needed to meet more pretty girls. (Thank you pop culture for all you taught me at the time) Well, this has all been the back-story.  I haven't even gotten to the actual random memory yet. 

I was sitting in Freshman English class during the first few weeks of the fall semester in 1991. As an 18-year old freshman I was just glad I could find my classes.  Anyway, I was sitting there before class started and I was "checking out" all the girls in the class and rating them on cuteness.  Anyway, there was this one redhead in the class and I thought she was cute.  On the random memory day I was sitting where I could see out the classroom door, and the aforementioned redhead walked across the hall and just before she entered the classroom she kissed this guy with big glasses and a goofy afro.  What!?! Who was that guy?  Did he know he just put the kibosh on my plans to meet pretty girls? I didn't know him but I already formed an opinion of him, and it wasn't good.  Fast forward 4 years later and Bill, the guy with big glasses and an afro, and Heather, the redhead, were two of my best friends in college after I got to know them in the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship group on campus. We served in campus ministry together, serving the Lord and each other.  Bill and Heather married in 1994 and started a family, they have 7 kids now.  Hey, you can make disciples or you can make disciples.  Bill, a doctor, served in the US Army for many years and is now in North Carolina. 

 I use this story as an example to show that first impressions are not always correct.  The way things seem is not necessarily the way things will be.  As servants, Christians need to remember where we came from, especially those of us who accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior many years ago.  We don't always remember what we were like in our "old days."  We were saved by Grace.  We are to pass that grace on to others without judgment. 

As Paul wrote in his Letters to Titus and the Ephesians. 

³ At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. ⁴ But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, ⁵ he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. ⁸ This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone. ^[1]

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ² in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature^a and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. ⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. ^[2]

As God first loved us we are to love others, especially those who do not yet know God.

If I speak in the tongues^a of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,^b but have not love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. ^[3]

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. ^[4]

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. ^[5]

As we serve in our churches, homes, schools, or where ever God has placed us we need to remember to serve with an attitude of love.  We should remember where we came from and that is all because of God's grace we are who we are today.  God's first impression of us wasn't good either, but after we accepted Jesus into our life all God see's when he looks at us now is his beloved son.  We need to look at others in the same light, that they are precious in the sight of God.

P.S. In a way, Bill got even with me in Junior or  Senior year when he gave me a giant space wedgie and managed to rip the elastic band pretty much completely off my underwear.  Boy was that uncomfortable. Heather made him buy me a new pair.

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^[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Tit 3:3-8

^a Or our flesh

^[2] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Eph 2:1-10

^a Or languages

^b Some early manuscripts body that I may boast

^[3] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. 1 Co 13:1-8

^[4] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. 1 Co 13:13

^[5] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. 1 Pe 4:8