Do you consider yourself a patient person? Do you get comments on how well you handle a situation in such a patient manner? I am maybe just marginally better than average at this point in my life. I used to have virtually no patience when it came to dealing with people, especially the ones I thought of as being quite close to moronic.
Patience is listed as one of the character qualities that He seeks to build in our hearts during our time on earth. I raised four kids and dealt with lots of childish behavior and learned that children basically have no patience … zero. And that is part of what we as parents try to teach our kids while also dealing with our own lack of patience! Now, four kids are plenty to deal with, but He has millions! Just thinking about that fact gave me shivers. How does He do it?
One night I happened to catch a clip of the news showing violent rioting by a mob of people whose sole intent was to destroy property of innocent people. I was so angry with them that I had to turn it off. I have no patience with that kind of behavior. I walked outside under the stars and it struck me that God has no off button. He says He sees and hears everything! I watched 15 minutes of awful behavior and had to shut it down.
Which leads me to ask you a question: If you were forced to watch the horrendous acts of Man committed in the darkness against the innocents in a video loop, how long could you watch it? Could you watch it again the next night, and the next? My guess is, no, you would not. He does, moment by moment, every hour, every day. How does He not say, “Enough! Project is now ended! The darkness of Man is now beyond My capacity to endure another moment” Why does He not say that?
Actually, there was a moment in time when God almost ended us. Did you know that? The story is told in Genesis 6:5-8.
“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination and intention of all human thinking was only evil. And the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, ‘I will destroy and wipe away mankind whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and all creatures, for it grieves Me that I have made them.’ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”
Because of one righteous man, God spared the rest of mankind and gave them a chance to repent while Noah built his boat. God’s love for one family kept Him from blowing away His project of building His own family. His patience was tested, but love kept you and I from being non-existent. Do you now like Noah?
I give thanks to God for the righteous men and women who live in our present time, people who love God and find favor in His eyes. It appears that is the only reason for God to continue to be patient in the midst of the darkness He is forced to observe every moment of every day. I am so very thankful to Him for His mysterious love. I may not always be patient, but now I know why He is …
