Don’t You See?
When you think of how God treats you, do you see Him as patient?
Verse of the Day
“Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?”
Today’s Devotional
The Bible tells us to “be strong and courageous” MANY times, and today we begin a series that (for me) requires courage. We are going to look at patience, which seems like an appropriate thing to pair with our practices of fasting and prayer. How many times, in well-meaning Christian communities, have you heard someone say, “Never pray for patience”? Why do people say that? Because if we ask God to increase our patience, the only way to practice being patient is in situations that test us.
Where do we start with studying patience and how to become people who are patient? We start with God. Always. We look at God’s patience with us, because we are never called to be anything He is not. Today’s verse says, “Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you?” Do we see it?
We cannot learn to be patient until we take the time to stop and look at how patient God is with us. If you’ve ever read through the Old Testament, have you ever taken the time to intentionally look for God’s patience with us, with all humans?
I can think of many examples of God’s patience with me. I can see opportunities to obey that I have missed, opportunities to trust that I have missed, and yet through it all I can see Him pursuing me. Psalm 23:6 says, “Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life” and I can see the evidence of this in my life. But I can only see God’s patience with me and pursuit of me in hindsight. That is why it is so important (to me) to keep a journal of my prayers and struggles and conversations with God.
Case in point: I flipped to my journal entry from one year ago today, looking for evidence of God’s patience with me. Sometimes in my journal, I ask for God to guide my pen, and allow His words to be written. Here’s what was written in my private journal one year ago: “What if the answer to your most urgent prayer today is My gentle encouragement to keep going? To hear reminders of My love, even as you feel like you are failing. To know that I am standing here with you as you struggle.”
Friends, our Mighty God is very patient with us. He is gentle and patient with me as I struggle and wrestle with fear and doubt. He is wonderfully kind, incredibly tolerant, and wonderfully patient with us. Today, let’s take the time to look for the evidence of His patience, because it is there for us to see, we might just need to be looking for it.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
Where and how have you seen God’s kindness in your life?
How have you seen God’s tolerance with you?
How has God been patient with you?
What evidence do you have of God’s patience with you?
Do you ever notice His patience in the moment, or is it always in hindsight?
Ask God today to help you see His patience with you and with others.