Be Patient with me

The title of this blog can be found many times in the Bible.  It is found many times where we are commanded to be patient in waiting or wanting.

Psalm 37:7 (New International Version, ©2011)
⁷ Be still before the LORD    and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways,    when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Romans 12:12 (New International Version, ©2011) 
¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 


However patience itself can be called a virtue.  It is something that many people want more of.  It is also something that many people have little of.  I found that out when I had children.  I was a lot more short tempered than I believed myself to be.  I would quip and get at them for every small infraction.  This I knew was not how I should act as it is written:

Proverbs 14:29
Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly.

  I would pray that God would build patience inside of me.  I found later that God already knew I needed patience that is why he blessed me with my children.  For any one who has children knows that they help you build patience in you as you forgive them.  You give them much more leeway then you would anyone else because of your love for them.  That also slightly parallels how God loves us, however God's love is on a whole other playing field than anything we can imagine.  As of now my children and I are learning this virtue together. 

You can see in these verses from Nehemiah that God is referred to as patient:


Nehemiah 9:29-31 (New International Version, ©2011) 
²⁹ “You warned them in order to turn them back to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, of which you said, ‘The person who obeys them will live by them.’ Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen. ³⁰ For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. ³¹
But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.

The verse I think and pray about many times over when I find myself beyond my current limitations of patience is from Ephesians.  This verse is one of those great memory verses to have in your arsenal for hard moments and situations to meditate on.

Ephesians 4:2 (New International Version, ©2011)
² Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Which this all comes back to the golden rule.  Treat others as you would want to be treated, or as Christ told us:

Matthew 7:12 (New International Version, ©2011)
¹² So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

So when you want others to be patient with you, remember you should be patient with them, but I realize it doesn't always work out like that.  We are still human and even though we know what we are suppose to do, we can't always do it.  So please leave a comment about any issue that you are struggling with right now where I can pray for your growth and patience.