Patience

     We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy. (Colossians 1:11, New Living Translation

Patience. A virtue I have not been blessed with. I think many are in the same boat. We get impatient when the computer is too slow or when the line at the store is too long or when we can’t complete a task on the first try. And maybe we lose our patience with God when we feel He hasn’t answered our prayers.

I’ve had that kind of a month, maybe even that kind of year. Nothing seems to be going right. The only thing I’m not impatient for is Christmas, because I am so not ready for it! I’ll never get everything done in the next two days!

Kind of a horrible thing to say, isn’t it? The real meaning of Christmas isn’t about seeing how much someone can cram into the month of December. It’s about patiently waiting for Baby Jesus to be born and then patiently waiting for his return one day.

This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. All honor and glory to God forever and ever! He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God. Amen.(1 Timothy 1:15-17, New Living Translation)