What if...
At the dinner table tonight I had a sort of horrifying thought.
What if the only reason God made Michael so slow to respond to me was so that I could learn patience?
What if every time I get irritated at him for not hearing me or not answering me or not obeying me, God is watching and saying to Himself, "Well, I guess we'll have to leave him like this a little longer, since she is obviously not learning her lesson yet."? What if!?
It gives me a whole new perspective on Michael. Instead of getting irritated when I have to repeat myself (again, for the seventeenth time) because "he didn't hear me," I could say in my heart, "Father, thank You for giving me this perfect opportunity to practice learning patience." And I could say to Michael in my heart, "Thank you my dear preoccupied son, for giving me this perfect opportunity to practice reflecting God's patience to you." And then I could say out loud to Michael (again) whatever it was I had already said several times before, without shouting, without sarcasm, without irritation in my tone of voice...
Ooh. I could. But I don't.
But maybe now I will, at least sometimes, when I remember this. Even just once would be better than never.
I just get so irritated so quickly, and it makes me wish I'd practiced learning patience back when I was sitting through those seemingly interminable women's work meetings when I was in Bible School and one more person had to ask one more stupid question...If only I'd practiced back when it was "easy"...
But maybe it never is.
Okay, then now maybe I can try working on exercising patience towards Michael when he's only 5, instead of looking back when he's 15 and mournfully regretting that I passed up those opportunities back when he was young and it would have been so easy...
Well it's easy to write about, and so impossible to act on. But God sees my heart, and He knows I want what's right, and He knows I want to be patient and loving towards my boys (not to mention to the rest of the world!) and He can help me get to that place. Good thing He can, because I know I can't!
I could not do without Thee,
I cannot stand alone.
I have no strength or goodness,
No wisdom of my own.
But Thou, beloved Savior,
Art all in all to me,
And weakness will be power
If leaning hard on Thee.
--Frances R. Havergal
What if the only reason God made Michael so slow to respond to me was so that I could learn patience?
What if every time I get irritated at him for not hearing me or not answering me or not obeying me, God is watching and saying to Himself, "Well, I guess we'll have to leave him like this a little longer, since she is obviously not learning her lesson yet."? What if!?
It gives me a whole new perspective on Michael. Instead of getting irritated when I have to repeat myself (again, for the seventeenth time) because "he didn't hear me," I could say in my heart, "Father, thank You for giving me this perfect opportunity to practice learning patience." And I could say to Michael in my heart, "Thank you my dear preoccupied son, for giving me this perfect opportunity to practice reflecting God's patience to you." And then I could say out loud to Michael (again) whatever it was I had already said several times before, without shouting, without sarcasm, without irritation in my tone of voice...
Ooh. I could. But I don't.
But maybe now I will, at least sometimes, when I remember this. Even just once would be better than never.
I just get so irritated so quickly, and it makes me wish I'd practiced learning patience back when I was sitting through those seemingly interminable women's work meetings when I was in Bible School and one more person had to ask one more stupid question...If only I'd practiced back when it was "easy"...
But maybe it never is.
Okay, then now maybe I can try working on exercising patience towards Michael when he's only 5, instead of looking back when he's 15 and mournfully regretting that I passed up those opportunities back when he was young and it would have been so easy...
Well it's easy to write about, and so impossible to act on. But God sees my heart, and He knows I want what's right, and He knows I want to be patient and loving towards my boys (not to mention to the rest of the world!) and He can help me get to that place. Good thing He can, because I know I can't!
I could not do without Thee,
I cannot stand alone.
I have no strength or goodness,
No wisdom of my own.
But Thou, beloved Savior,
Art all in all to me,
And weakness will be power
If leaning hard on Thee.
--Frances R. Havergal
posted by gretchenemma at 7:45 PM
5 Comments:
Great post. It makes me think I should be more patient toward other drivers on the road... Because what could be more easy a situation to learn patience than that? God bless you as you lean hard on Him! I'll pray.
Oh man...patience---seems like there's just never enough to last through the day. I don't know how you do it but glad you could get some perspective on it.
I agree, she is a great Post!
I have a lot of patience - until I run out. I like to aim for patience, because it feels better. But, you're right, self-effort isn't enough.
Thanks ladies, for your understanding and sympathy. Of course at times I think I am the world's worst mother and the most impatient being ever created, but it's sort of nice to think that probably every mother thinks that of herself at some time or another...
I was going to write a huge long comment but I'm just going to make it into a new post instead...
(not a new Post, you understand, a new post)
hee-hee, thanks Brenda ;)
Hmm, aiming for patience. Yes, I like that. It seems so obvious in a way, but do I really do that? Not always, I confess. In fact, perhaps not nearly as often as I would assume.
I mean, the whole point is that it doesn't come naturally, and therefore maybe even aiming for it doesn't come naturally...
Okay, more to come in the next post
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