Patience.

I don't know where you are in your life right now but one thing I have been struggling with and that I know the Lord is working on me is patience. I'm the type of person that when I see something that I want I go after it until it's mine. That's a good characteristic to have but it's also something that gets me in trouble. Let me explain. When it comes to trusting the Lord I totally rely on him until I feel like it's in the bag. Whenever God comes through for me I pretty much tell God thanks and tell him I'll take it from here. Isn't that so stupid? How can I put all my trust in him and then as soon as I get what I think I was waiting for I stop going to him? I really believe that's why God doesn't always answer everything we pray for. Another thing that happens to me is when I pray and just keep believing that God is in control and things are staying the same way I tend to get impatient. I start thinking why hasn't anything changed, or I wonder if maybe I'm asking the wrong way. I'm not always like this but lately I'll admit that I have been getting a little inpatient with God. So as I was just thinking today and kind of being impatient I feel that the Lord spoke to me in two ways today.
The first was I was trying to listen to Dr. David Hocking but the station kept slipping in and out but I heard him say one thing. He said that if my life doesn't reflect what I believe, then what I have to say about what I believe isn't important. I know that when I'm impatient with God my mood changes and I really don't feel like being around people. Sometimes I even get sad because what I'm impatient about makes me feel sad because I want God to hurry up and fix what I want fixed. If this is how I'm acting, how am I reflecting what I believe? How can I tell people to have faith, trust in God, and have joy if I can't? That's why I need to let my life reflect what I believe.
The second way I feel that God spoke to me today was when I was just venting to him and a verse popped into my head. The verse was Psalm 46:10 which says Be still, and know that I am God... (you should read the whole Psalm) I'm not trying to reinterpret this scripture, but the way I recieved it was like I need to just shut up and stop complaining and know that God is working things out. I need to let God just be God (where have I heard that before) and stop trying to make things happen.
Now I know that we are humans and we like to take control. Patience is a discipline, a discipline that I ask God for everyday. That's my prayer for for us today. I pray that we would have the discipline to be patient. I pray that God would help us change our minds from I want it now to I want what you want Lord. I pray that we would have the strength and faith to be ok with what God is doing and however long he decides to take. Remember he is the God of the universe so I think it's safe to say that he knows what best for us :-)