Patience

It is always amazing to me how we all say that we desire patience, but when it comes time for the situations that bring about patience, we don't really like it. I was remembering back today to a time in my marriage when my wife and I were continuously praying for the ability to purchase a house. We had been renting up to that point and it was our desire to own a home of our own. During this period, we toured what seemed like 1,000 homes. That number might not be off as far as you may think. This continued for a couple of years. There was times that I would be praying and asking God why He had not allowed us to find a home of our own. During this 2 plus year period, I remember that I could not understand why we were in this situation of patience building. After a 2 plus year period, God was doing more than we ever felt possible. He was growing us in our journey of faith, but he was also remodeling the house that He had for us. You may be a little confused now, but stick with me because this is really cool. The house that we found at the end of this period, was exactly what we had been praying for. Each of the items that were on our prayer list were in this house. It turns out though that no one had lived in this house for 2 plus years. The story here is that the owners were getting older and the husband did not want to have to remodel the house. He decided that he would just build them a new one. So they moved just right up the road a couple of miles. Well, during this period, they couldn't stand the thought of the old house just sitting there, so since there was nothing in the home now, they began remodeling it little by little. Putting in new carpet, putting in a new well pump, updating some plumbing issues and many other things. The beauty of this story is that my Heavenly Father not only wanted to provide us with a house that fulfilled our needs, but he wanted to remodel it for us so that when He blessed us with it that it would be better than we could have imagined. I am reminded of a scripture Mathew 7:11 7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. God desires what is best for each of His children. Let me encourage you, that in times that we think it is taking forever, or we may even question if God hears us, that He is doing something special that is what will be best for us! Patience is hard during the growing process, but on the victory side of it, it is humbling to look back and see how God's hand was moving the entire time. Be Blessed, Phillip B.