So, you probably got up today and immediately started to focus on how you could be patient with all the people you were gonna deal with. Right? Yeah, right. Me neither.
Is it even possible to be patient with all the knuckleheads?
No, I don’t believe it is. At least not completely. And certainly not when you depend on YOU for the ability to do it.
But it would seem, if you’re a Christian, this is something you’re supposed to do. Some might even say “called to do” (I wouldn’t be one of those, by the way). Yep, it’s right there in the Bible. And it’s even in the part written TO you and me. Uh-uh. Paul wrote it.
He said, right there in his first letter to the Thessalonians, “warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.” Boom! End of story. Now, go out there and be patient.
OK, you probably catch my drift by now. NO, I don’t expect you to be a perfect picture of patience. But who am I to disagree with Paul? I’m just a singer songwriter poet. And I probably don’t see the world clearly through my rose-colored glasses. You know how quirky us dreamy-eyed poets can get.
But, let’s back up just a second.
Because Paul didn’t just write that little exhortation to the Thessalonians and then head out to dinner.
No, that letter includes 5 sections we refer to as “chapters.” And each of those chapters has lots of verses. And you only need to back up a few verses to see how Paul was guiding the new Christians in Thessaloniki, specifically, on how to deal with each other.
Not the whole world in general.
Of course, you can be patient with all the people you deal with today IF you don’t put your faith in YOU to be able to do it. Or, at the very least, you can be patienter (side note: that’s not really the English word for being more patient. But it’s the French word for “wait.” And that strikes me as appropriate anyway.)
Now, I’m not sure you needed to hear any of this today. But my hope is that you’ll use it as one more way to focus on your Creator rather than yourself.
And the main YOU I’m talking to
Is the YOU I see in the mirror.
‘Cause one fine day he’s flyin’ away.
And that “one day” is one day nearer.
Stay tuned,
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