Thursday, January 11, 2007

Patience and Trust


We humans tend to be an impatient lot, don't we? We want God's support, and we often pray for His guidance in a decision, but . . . too many times we want the answer we want, and we would certainly like to have it NOW! Seems to me that we are pretty lowly creatures to be going up against God! I mean, there are people here on this earth that I wouldn't want to confront or hand an ultimatum to, yet we often have no qualms about "laying it all out there" to the One who really does have our best interests at heart.

Well God, this is what I need and this is how I want it to be worked out, and by the way, I'd like to have that as soon as possible! Imagine our response if one of our children made a request in this manner, yet how often do we approach God with this attitude.

Due to the wisdom that comes from maturity and experience, parents often have the ability to "look down the road" and know in advance what the consequences would be of fulfilling a child's request - whether good or bad. What we often fail to realize is that God has an even greater ability to see the whole picture of our lives - where we've been, and where we are headed. In our human impatience, how easy it is to forget that, like a parent, He really does know best.

I'm at the point in my life where I realize that I've really done a lot of "messing up" in trying to run my own life. As my friend used to say - hindsight is always better than foresight." But why learn everything the hard way, if we don't have to? I've found that my life is made so much easier by praying for the Lord's guidance in my decision-making, and then actually standing back and letting Him lead! He has never once steered me in the wrong direction!

As I stand at the point of another transition of my life, with another move and all the changes it entails, I'm finally learning to stand back quietly and allow the Lord to give the help that I have requested. Instead of being stressed about what might, or might not be, down the road for me, I've decided to leave it in the Lord Hands, and let Him lead me along in my journey through this transition. It has made things much easier to face and cope with - including the one who is the cause of this transition and the mixed bag of emotions it has created.

God's ability to love and nurture His children is even greater than that of an earthly parent. He will never lead us in a way that is not good for us, or that would bring us in harm's way. He wants to give us the best of what He has, and He has love and strength overflowing!! He is never too tired or too busy to hear and honor our requests for help. All we have to do is step aside, put our trust in Him, and let Him lead where He will.

~ If God is your co-pilot, you'd better swap seats! ~

2 comments:

La Tea Dah said...

So true --- and so nicely said.

Anonymous said...

Sounds just like a chapter out of the Theophostic Prayer Ministry manual!! Good for you!!