Tag: Patience

Morning Musing: Psalm 40:1-3

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“I waited patiently for the Lord, and he turned to me and heard my cry for help. He brought me up from a desolate pit, out of the muddy clay, and set my feet on a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and they will trust in the Lord.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I haven’t done this for a while, but this morning is going to be a bit of a grab bag. Honestly, that’s because I didn’t know what I was going to write until I got up this morning. That’s sort of true every day because I tend to write each post the same day it goes live, but most days I’m only completing a thought I first started sketching out two to three weeks before writing. Fridays, though, are for taking a break from the rest of the week and reflecting on something different. I spent the time I lay in bed awake last night prayerfully pondering what I would write about this morning. So, we’ll call this morning an answer to prayer. Perhaps it’s an answer for you. Here’s to a bit of a stream of consciousness morning.

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Morning Musing: Psalm 40:1-2

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“I waited patiently for the Lord, and he turned to me and heard my cry for help. He brought me up from a desolate pit, out of the muddy clay, and set my feet on a rock, making my steps secure.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

How patient of a person would you say you are? I’ll wait. We joke about the fact that patience is a virtue, but in an instant society like ours, waiting is a challenging thing to do. This morning as I was turning off of Main Street and pulling into work, I had to wait just a second for a car to pass going the other direction. In that brief moment, the truck behind me started to go around me on the right (our Main Street is only a two-way road) rather than being delayed by 10-seconds on his way to his destination. Admittedly, I’ve been tempted to do the same thing in other places when I’m in a hurry myself. We don’t like to wait. Unfortunately, life is full of waiting. The world does not operate on our schedule. Neither does God. The season of Advent is also one filled with waiting. As we continue our Advent journey together, let’s talk about it this morning.

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Digging in Deeper: Mark 2:21-22

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“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new patch pulls away from the old cloth, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins. No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever seen somebody be insulted without realizing they were being insulted? Jon Stewart, former host of Comedy Central’s popular series, “The Daily Show,” was well-known for doing this. He would send out “reporters” to do interviews with unsuspecting individuals which were then edited to make them look stupid at best. Well, Jesus wasn’t doing that here, but He was making an observation about some folks that wasn’t exactly complimentary. In doing so, though, He offers us a good reminder to not fall into the same trap they had. Let’s talk about it.

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Digging in Deeper: Habakkuk 2:3

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“For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it testifies about the end and will not lie. Though it delays, wait for it, since it will certainly come and not be late.”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter)

Are you a good waiter? I’m not talking about serving tables at a restaurant. I mean, are you good at waiting for things? Most of us aren’t, if we’re being honest. We live in an instant culture. We expect things to happen when we want them to happen and not a moment later. The challenge, of course, is that the world doesn’t operate on our timetable. More than that, the God who created it doesn’t. This means that if we want to get through life well, we’re going to have to learn to wait.

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Morning Musing: Habakkuk 2:1

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“I will stand at my guard post and station myself on the lookout tower. I will watch to see what he will say to me and what I should reply about my complaint.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever asked somebody a question and then didn’t stick around for an answer? Better yet, have you ever had somebody ask you a question and then didn’t stick around for your answer? My kids will occasionally do that. They’ll ask me something and just as I mount my soapbox of parental wisdom to impart to them the secrets of the universe, they’ve already either asked me something else or are talking about the next thing. It drives me crazy…in no small part because it wounds my ego. As frustrating as this is for us, imagine how God feels. Think for a minute about how many times you’ve asked Him something only to not wait around for the answer. Habakkuk has asked God some really big questions. He does something next that is really important for us to mimic.

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