Story of my life.

I think we can all admit that none of us is perfect. (at least, it's easy enough for me to admit that you are not perfect!) Each and every person has, I think, something that takes a lifetime to learn. Perhaps you learn it once, but in time you forget and God teaches it to you again. And again. And again.

Welcome to my life.

One of the lessons God has needed to re-teach me lately is that of waiting. Patience is not my strong-suit. In college, 75% of the reason I ate breakfast for almost every meal was because I hate waiting in lines. I'll eat cold pizza because I hate waiting for it to reheat. I can get irritated if the phone rings 3 or 4 times before someone finally picks it up.

Those are all silly things, but in my life they signify a deeper lack of patience. And that lack of patience comes from a lack of trust in my Sovereign, Good, and Holy Father. I struggle to trust that He has not forgotten me, or that He really does know what He's doing. I KNOW He has not forgotten me, and I KNOW that His plan is not just going to be amazing, but that it is amazing right now. But actually living that out is the real challenge.

Some of you know that my life verse has been Isaiah 40:31. "...But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings likes eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

At Ladies Days this year, Angela Thomas spoke on this verse and gave me a new perspective on things. Hoping in the Lord is active--I must put my hope in Him. My problem is that I tend to pick it back up, like a child who is trying to get dad to read her a book. She puts it in his lap, and when he doesn't immediately pick it (and her) up to read it, she picks it up and puts it higher in his lap. Over and over, until he finally pays her the attention she's seeking. That's me. I put my hope at His feet, but when I begin to worry and wonder about the future again, that's me picking it back up. And putting it back at His feet. And picking it back up. So here I am, putting it back again.

Through sermons and Sunday school lessons and such, God has brought a few other relevant verses to my attention. I'll leave you with those.

Lamentations 3:24-26
"I say to myself, 'The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.' The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD."

Psalm 37:3-7a
"Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him."