Perspective
I had a woman in a church that I served who used to like to say, "Be careful what you pray for. I prayed for patience and God gave me Allen (her youngest son)."
Now, I understand what she meant by that, but I think her perspective is way off. I don't think God was listening to her prayer and thinking to Himself, "Hmmmmm, she wants patience, does she? Well, I'll give her something to be patient about!!! Muhuhuhahahahahahaha." Sigh, is God really like the Monkey's Paw? Or the evil Genie?
Two and a half weeks ago, I woke up in the middle of the night. That's not all THAT unusual, but I woke up with a sudden and urgent need to pray - but with no direction to pray. That IS unusual. So, I started praying for the church and the people here - the youth and some of the events that were coming up. Then I started praying for my family. You know, those general, nice, inoffensive prayers that we too often pray. But then I started praying about being patient. My temper has gotten awfully short these days - I have reasons, but they don't excuse it. And I started to pray that Lori and I could be models of God's love and discipline in the girls' lives - we'd had a couple of nights where bedtime was unpleasant and I think that's what brought all that to mind. "Let me be more patient with Lori and with the girls, Lord," I prayed. So, after maybe 20 minutes (by 3 AM, anyway) I was back asleep and all was right in my world.
The VERY NEXT NIGHT Rachel woke up with the stomach flu at about 11:30 PM. I had just fallen into a deep sleep. Eventually, after two sets of sheets, I realized that it wasn't just indigestion, took her downstairs to the couch wtih a bucket and sat up most of the night with her. Lori has to drive 45 minutes to and from work most days, so I wanted to try to give her a chance to sleep some (she didn't get NEARLY enough sleep that night, either - maybe and hour or two more than me...). The next day, Lori realized that her diamond ring was gone. The NEXT day, Elie woke up at 2:30 AM with the stomach flu and I repeated my experience from two nights before, only with one sheet change... Two nights later, I got the stomach flu. One week later, Lori (this past Sunday) Lori realized she has kidney stones (and you can guess how she realized it) and she's been fighting that pain all this week - including a self-driven trip to the ER at 2:30 this morning...
Now, to take my former parishioner's approach: God heard me pray about needing to be more patient and he let the stuff hit the fan for the past two weeks - hand rubbing and evil laugh and all...
OR - perspective - God knew what my next two weeks would be like and woke me up (or used my waking up) to gently prepare me for what was to come. You know what I've been thinking for the past two weeks, every time somebody throws up, has a meltdown, or cries for (what seems to me) no reason (even when that crier is me)? "Lord, give me patience."
And you know what? He has...
No, we haven't found Lori's ring, yet - and she's still feeling like a truck ran her over. I'm starting to get sick again, I think... But in all of this, God has graced me with His presence and His patience.
Now the Fruits of the Spirit are: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience,... I'm working on the fourth of nine this month. God, give me patience.
Now, I understand what she meant by that, but I think her perspective is way off. I don't think God was listening to her prayer and thinking to Himself, "Hmmmmm, she wants patience, does she? Well, I'll give her something to be patient about!!! Muhuhuhahahahahahaha
Two and a half weeks ago, I woke up in the middle of the night. That's not all THAT unusual, but I woke up with a sudden and urgent need to pray - but with no direction to pray. That IS unusual. So, I started praying for the church and the people here - the youth and some of the events that were coming up. Then I started praying for my family. You know, those general, nice, inoffensive prayers that we too often pray. But then I started praying about being patient. My temper has gotten awfully short these days - I have reasons, but they don't excuse it. And I started to pray that Lori and I could be models of God's love and discipline in the girls' lives - we'd had a couple of nights where bedtime was unpleasant and I think that's what brought all that to mind. "Let me be more patient with Lori and with the girls, Lord," I prayed. So, after maybe 20 minutes (by 3 AM, anyway) I was back asleep and all was right in my world.
The VERY NEXT NIGHT Rachel woke up with the stomach flu at about 11:30 PM. I had just fallen into a deep sleep. Eventually, after two sets of sheets, I realized that it wasn't just indigestion, took her downstairs to the couch wtih a bucket and sat up most of the night with her. Lori has to drive 45 minutes to and from work most days, so I wanted to try to give her a chance to sleep some (she didn't get NEARLY enough sleep that night, either - maybe and hour or two more than me...). The next day, Lori realized that her diamond ring was gone. The NEXT day, Elie woke up at 2:30 AM with the stomach flu and I repeated my experience from two nights before, only with one sheet change... Two nights later, I got the stomach flu. One week later, Lori (this past Sunday) Lori realized she has kidney stones (and you can guess how she realized it) and she's been fighting that pain all this week - including a self-driven trip to the ER at 2:30 this morning...
Now, to take my former parishioner's approach: God heard me pray about needing to be more patient and he let the stuff hit the fan for the past two weeks - hand rubbing and evil laugh and all...
OR - perspective - God knew what my next two weeks would be like and woke me up (or used my waking up) to gently prepare me for what was to come. You know what I've been thinking for the past two weeks, every time somebody throws up, has a meltdown, or cries for (what seems to me) no reason (even when that crier is me)? "Lord, give me patience."
And you know what? He has...
No, we haven't found Lori's ring, yet - and she's still feeling like a truck ran her over. I'm starting to get sick again, I think... But in all of this, God has graced me with His presence and His patience.
Now the Fruits of the Spirit are: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience,... I'm working on the fourth of nine this month. God, give me patience.
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