Patience

This past weekend, my church had it's annual missions conference. In addition to the testimonials of of several of the missionaries our church supports, we had a main speaker who preached each day on the attributes of God and their missional implications.

Firday night, he preached about the patience of God. He showed us how God was/is patient with Adam, the Amorites, the Israelites, the gentiles, believers, and nonbelievers. He showed us that God calls us to be patient with one another and that patience is a fruit of the Spirit. I thought to myself, "I think I've got that one down. I'm pretty good at being patient with others. I pretty good at giving people second and third chances." Obviously, pride and arrogance are still a struggle for me. Nonetheless, it was still a great sermon and there is still much to be learned about the patience of God and the patience He has for me in my sin every second of the day.

I had a twenty minute drive home to think about what I had just heard. I thanked God for the patience He has with me. Frustrated with my sinfulness, I finally got it. I am not patient. I don't always have patience for God. I don't have patience with myself. The Lord has more patience for me than I have for Him or myself.

Who am I that my judgement of myself should take precedence over my Creator's judgement of me? Who am I to say that I do or don't deserve punishments or blessings? Who am I to think that I know better than God?

Ah! The foolishness of man!

Though my lips say otherwise, my heart still sometimes believes there is such a thing as "good enough." No one is good enough. It's either you are good or you are evil. No one is good. That is why we have Jesus. He is good and His death is so that I may live without condemnation. (Romans 8:1) He took the penalty for my past, present, and future sins. God looks at me and sees Christ's perfection. That is grace and mercy. It's not a license to sin, but a freedom from it.

So, dear friends, have patience with each other, with God, and with yourself. Don't do it because you have to or even "should." Do it out of gratitude for the patience you have been given.