He was a slow learner; she was his fourth-grade teacher. Little did she know how patience would impact her life and his. She wasn’t as patient with Teddy as she should’ve been. Learning was difficult for him, and being shunned by his classmates only intensified his pain. Teddy’s mother died the previous year, and what little motivation he had was now gone. But everything changed at Christmas when she received Teddy’s present. Inside were a gaudy rhinestone bracelet and a bottle of cheap perfume-presents that had belonged to his mother. Miss Thompson was never the same. And Teddy? He graduated first in his college class.
Patience is a virtue God possesses and wants to share. The LORD says, “Don’t harden your hearts as Israel did…For…your ancestors tested and tried my patience (Psalm 95: 8-9 NLT). Disobedience escorted them into 40 years of wilderness wandering, but God’s patience delivered them into the Promised Land.
God is patient in the presence of unbelief. He’s doesn’t desire that any perish but wants everyone to experience forgiveness and enjoy his prepared eternity. His patient nature prompts him to continually confront sinners with their need to repent.
God is also patient with his children. Accepting Christ took care of my sinful nature but not my fleshly fodder…those unhealthy lifestyle patterns and habits I learned prior to knowing Him. These often cause me to stumble and lead me into forbidden areas. When I fall, God continually picks me up and gives me second chances. He’s forming me into his Son’s image, and sometimes the shaping is more difficult in some people than in others. But he won’t give up. His goal is for me to act like Jesus in my thoughts and actions.
Are you testing God’s limits? Here’s the good news-He’ll never give up on you.
Prayer: Thank You merciful Creator and God for being patient with us despite our faults and failures.
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