Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. (James 5:7)

I always cringe just a little (if not a lot) when I see the words “be patient.” Not long ago we spoke at an event that had an interesting theme. The theme for this event embraced the honey “bee” and even the decorations had some kind of bee on it. There were stuffed animal-type bees, candy bees, and even flower corsages that a bee would love to buzz around. You get my drift. When we sat down at a table, there was a bee placed in front of each glass. The bee had a saying on it. Mine said “be kind.” The one next to me said “be patient.” I was so glad I got the “be kind” bee. Then, out of the blue, we were asked to move over one place and there it was–“be patient” staring back at me. I knew I was in trouble.

Since then I have had to wait on many things. Traffic seems extremely slow, far more than normal. This morning, we got stuck in a parking lot that was being paved and literally could not get out of it. We were running late for a meeting. And then, I went to the eye doctor. At five minutes past the hour, I heard him coming. Yea, he is right on schedule! Then, an emergency phone call came from nowhere. I waited 45 minutes. I sat in a semi-dark room and had a talk with God. He told me to be kind to everyone in that office and to keep waiting patiently. As I left, the doctor shook my hand, gave me a discount on the office visit, the receptionist gave me some free stuff, and another girl expressed to me that it had been a very long day for them. She sincerely thanked me for being “patient.” I smiled, they smiled and I am pretty sure God smiled too.

When you get that little message and know in your spirit that you are being tested on something, like patience, stop and pray. The Lord had to remind me of the fruit that He wanted to bear through me – not about me, but about Him. Be alert to those things that God wants to do through you today. Stop and pray and let the Lord be your guide. You never know how it will turn out to bless someone else. 

Today’s devotion blessed me. Patience is something I also struggle with, I want things done quickly and productively but many times God has spoken to my heart to slow down. I have learned through many testings not to stress about how it’s not turning out how I intended and on almost every occasion where I have shown patience and forgiveness, God has taken what I thought wasn’t the plan and revealed His plan to me. He has taken many situations and turned them for my good and when I realized I can’t control every situation but I can control how I react to those situations, I see God’s hand move in my favor because of my patience but in those moments when I allow my hot button to be pushed and I react accordingly God instantly convicts my heart and I feel horrible, we must remember, we can’t take back what we say or how we react to any given situation so when we feel frustration, anger or hate nudging at us we must do as today’s devotion says, stop and pray. Yes, it’s truly that simple. 

Have a beautiful day in The Lord! 

Today’s Reading is Matthew 18:21-35