Redefine :: Part II

An Introduction

From a long break I have emerged to continue this blogging series. I just recently came back from Florida where I spent the weekend with Lauren's grandparents and mother. It was one of the greatest weekends I had ever had. I got to do my favorite thing in the whole world. I got to do absolutely nothing. It was an unbelieveable feeling. Anywho... Patience...

Going throught the abstract nouns that are found in the passasage at the end of the "Love Chapter" and the "Fruits of the Spirit" located in Galations, I found a word that stood out to me. Patience. Lauren tells me sometimes that its one of my ticks that I have trouble with. When I am ready to do something... I am ready. I even have very specific body language that shows I am done with what ever I was doing and ready to go on to the next action of life. Sometimes this bothers the heck out of her. I admit it. Patience is a tough thing to learn, but even harder if we look at the whole definition.

Suffering Capacity

A true test of patience is not waiting quietly and eagerly for an event to happen. Often I think that patience is confused with reverance. There is much more to patience than obidence. It is looking at a situation and deciding that what God desires for you is better. I always wondered how Jesus portrayed patience. It wasn't until I read this definition. Patience is saying "Your will be done." Patience is saying to yourself that God is better. A true test of patience is exemplified in Psalm 63:3: "Because your love is better than life, my lips will praise you."

Patience is not merely a virtue it is a capacity. It has volume and weight. It isn't something that can be found on the page of the massive book your grandmother gave you when you were a kid. It is something that can only be given in its full definition by the Spirit of God with in you. My patience is going to be tested this summer. My family is going to be going through some major life changes. We will come closer to Christ through more than just trust, but a patience that believes that God is better than anything in this world. Because of this we should praise him with our lips, tounge, actions, words, and lives.