Picture the most frustrating moment you can imagine. Maybe it’s teaching a child to ride a bike or once again finding the gas tank empty after letting hubby drive the car.
We want to pull our hair out.
However, think of it from the other side. Junior is equally frustrated that he just can’t get it. Hubby doesn’t see the problem with us leaving a few minutes early the next morning to fill the car’s tank.
When we feel frustration in our spiritual lives, we need to ask what God is training us to do. What is our spiritual “bicycle” that we’re having difficulty learning to ride? What spiritual “gas tank” do we fail to fill, even when he has reminded us over and over?
In Exodus 34:6, the Word tells us that God spoke to Moses, telling him he is a God who is merciful, kind, angers slowly, and who shows great love and faithfulness to his people.
God loves us, and in the same breath, he sees the situation from both sides. He is the one doing the training, and he understands the one being trained. After all, he created us from the dust of the earth, and we are formed in his image.
How many times will we pick junior up off the sidewalk and put him back on his bike? If we love him, the prospect of his success will be enough. We will choose to overlook short-term frustration because we know that once he “gets” it, nothing will slow him down. When we find the gas tank empty, we will simply smile and make a small change in plans. We will put the empty tank in perspective, for we love our spouse.
With his people, God is the same. He instructs us on how to come to him, and when we fall on the sidewalk, he patiently picks us up and puts us back on the bike. He knows that once we figure it out, nothing will slow us down. We will become the Christians he wants us to be. He sees his efforts in perspective, for he is a long-range planner.
2 Peter 3:9 speaks to God’s timing. In this verse we find that God is not slow in fulfilling his promises, not in the way humanity thinks of slowness. Instead, he is patient with us, for he does not want anyone to be lost. It is when we understand God that we understand his slowness. It is to allow time for all people to change their hearts and lives.
We know the story of Noah. 1 Peter 3:20 tells of God’s patience with humanity while Noah built the ark. For a hundred years the people were given the opportunity to repent. However, Peter tells us that only a few – eight in all – were saved. How patient God must have been, to have provided salvation for only eight people! The psalmist cries in Psalm 86:15, “You are merciful and kind. You anger slowly because of your great patience. Your love and kindness are without measure.”
God shows us patience, for he desires all to come to repentance. He is a loving father, and he sees our future glory, not our present failure.
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