THANKING GOD FOR BEING SO PATIENT AND LONGSUFFERING

This year did not start out peacefully and balanced the way I had hoped it would. Not even the first day of the 21 days of prayer that my church starts the year out with, and that I had been so looking forward to, to set the tone for the months to follow. Instead of going according to plan, it too was filled with unexpected frustrations and upsets. 

Instead of the special day I had prepared for, it felt like a squandered one. Instead of spending it quietly with the Lord and in prayer, as I had wanted to, I allowed myself to get hurt, disappointed and upset, right on the heels of listening to the book Unoffendable by Brant Hansen--not just once, but twice. It had not taken me long to fail the test. 

Sitting in my prayer corner weeping tears of frustration over everything that's been going wrong, how I have no control over anything, how I can't seem to get anything right, and how hopeless everything seems, the Lord met me right where I was at. 

I picked up my cellphone and clicked on what I thought was my Bible Hub icon to look up a verse, but somehow wound up on Facebook instead, and there was a memory someone who used to be a friend, but who is no longer in touch, had shared to my wall with a comment asking if I remembered it.

For sure it was a divinely appointed moment, because it was a memory reminding me of how her parents had "dragged" her into the prayer room at church years ago and I had prayed life over her, and how that prayer had been the first step on the road to her salvation experience not too long after.

And then, a little later, I was checking my e-mail and I saw a comment on my blog from someone unfamiliar, so I went to her blog to see who she was. That too was a divinely orchestrated moment. Her blog, Visits With Mary was so full of encouragement, and one post in particular, which I hope she doesn't mind me sharing a small piece of, really spoke to my heart.

She wrote about how she was humming the old Frank Sinatra song, I did it my way, when she heard the  Lord put the words in her heart, "You should've been doing it MY way--blessings would have been more abundant."

What He spoke to my heart in that moment was that these past few days had just been, as I later realized, a test, and yes, I had scored pretty low on it, but tests can be taken over.  

I still need to work on patience, and on trusting Him and His perfect timing, and remember that His thoughts and ways are not my thoughts or ways (Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 27:14, Galatians 6:9). They are far superior (Isaiah 55:8-9). Only He knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10).

And I still need lots of practice being unoffendable, and not letting myself get rattled by the lies Satan plants in my mind--no matter how real or true they may seem. If they don't match up with the truths in God's Word they are not to be believed or acted upon (Romans 12:2, Psalm 119:105, Matthew 4:4-10, Ephesians 6:17).

I am so grateful that God is so patient and longsuffering, and that He never gives up on me, no matter how badly I keep messing up.