His Virtue is to Overlook an Offense


Confession time: I am impatient. But I come by it honestly. When I was a teenager, we shared a yard with my grandparents, and every so often, Poppaw Pinson would call and say he wanted me to ride with him to town. Like a typical teenager, I would take my time getting a shower before going. On more than one occasion, Poppaw just went ahead without me. On one occasion, in particular, Poppaw didn't even wait five minutes for me to brush my teeth and put on my shoes! When he called, you had better be ready to go.

At my age, I am not quite as bad as Poppaw was in his 80s, but I can still be pretty impatient. I have been especially impatient with God recently. I know it's wrong, but when I pray for something, I want it to happen immediately. Thankfully, all of my walks in God's woods are teaching me to be more patient, but I have to admit that it is still hard.

Reading today's verse helps me reflect on my walk with God, and writing these blog posts has helped me gain more insight. According to the verse, these insights are helping me learn to be more patient. I can't claim to be a patient person today, but I am definitely learning what it feels like to wait. Specifically, I am have been trying to lean into Psalms 37:7:
'Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for Him...'
I am finding that there is a fine line between being impatient and waiting expectantly, but I am working on it.

When I first read the second half of this verse, I felt like it didn't really connect with the first half. The more I have thought about it, I am beginning to see that being patient gives me the ability to overlook offenses. Many times throughout my life, someone has said or done something to upset me, and my immediate reaction is to "fight back," usually by saying something rude that leads to an argument. I am also trying to learn to take a few moments before I respond (or not respond at all), but it certainly takes patience.

In my impatience, I sure wish I could say that I have learned to be patient, and I know the irony of that statement. If anything, I am beginning to understand that there is really only one way to learn patience, and it takes practice. I am still a work in progress, but praise God that He is patient with me.

Heavenly Father, I am sorry for the many times I have been impatient with you. As I have read before, when I look back over my life, I have a 100% track record of surviving even the hardest days. Thank you, Father, for being patient with me. In the graceful name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
 

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