Patience and Waiting...

Patience and waiting both go hand in hand. In order to wait for something you have to be patient. What is patience? Dictionary.com defines patience as an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay. The willingness to suppress restlessness let that sit in for a second. So in order to have patience we have to put an end to being restless and anxious all the time. We have to stop worrying about what tomorrow brings. I heard the following saying the other day: Worrying is like a rocking chair- it gives you something to do but it doesn’t get you anywhere.” God knows the desires of our heart. Why should we worry about what is ahead of us? As humans we want things to happen instantly. We don’t like to stand in long lines, we want our food fast... etc. I think Americans now day don’t understand patience and waiting because we are not use to it. Back in the olden days, they understood it more. They had to wait for the harvest, drive a long distance to get to the nearest store. We take for grant the things we have today.

How many of us like to wait for something? Not me. What is fun about waiting? Nothing at all. I think that patience and waiting is when I grow closer to the Lord though. I realize that I have one of two options: I can choose to worry about why I am still single or I can embrace it and realize that it is all part of God’s plan for my life. I told someone the other day that I don’t think God will bring someone in my life until I completely surrender it all over to God. I think so many times I try to tell God how I want things to happen. When God is telling me, Savannah your plans don’t even compare to the great plans that I have for you. Total surrender, why is that so hard? I think because we realize we can’t control what the outcome will be. As a Christian, we aren’t in control of what happens in our life. He already has it all planned out, we just need to trust him more and stop trying to tell God how we want things to be.

What makes waiting so difficult? Waiting means we must be still. I have trouble just being still. At home if it’s really quiet in the house, I will turn on the radio because I can’t stand for it to be quiet. When it’s quiet, I start to think and allow my mind to worry about things. This week, I need to embrace the quiet. I am going to allow the quiet to be time that I pray and be still. I really like this quote by Joseph Campbell: “We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.” Whatever it is that you are waiting for, let go of the life that you have planned. The life we have planned can’t even touch the plan that God has for our life. Letting go isn’t easy but the reward will be far greater if we do.

Love is more than just a feeling...

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of the work love? Some would say that feeling you get when you see someone you really like. Love may be that feeling you get when you kiss someone. Love is that physical attraction you have for someone. I think that our society has love all wrong now days. I think that before you love someone there has to be a time when you didn’t love them. Love is not something that can just happen overnight, it takes time. In this post, I want to just share some thoughts that I have heard in the past few weeks that have really stuck with me.

Loving people will involve risk. It is hard to love again when you have been hurt so many times. I know personally in my life there are times that I have duck taped my heart back to together so tightly so that no one can get in. Love is risky; when you love someone you can’t just say it though. Love is an action. I want to share a quote from one of my devotionals this week, “Love doesn’t just happen to you. Love is a choice and it represents a commitment.” We have taken the word love so lightly at times. Love is something that is deep and represents a commitment. You are probably thinking right now well if love is a commitment and it involves risk, then you better count me out then. People become scared when you use the word commitment. Why is that? I think it could be they realize that once they make a commitment, it means that it no longer is about them. When you love someone you are committed to be there for them no matter what.

Just now I was looking through my sermon notes from 4/21/12 I found this: Love is an action that leads to a feeling, not the opposite. This past week I found the same words love is an action. There is no accident that I was supposed to hear that twice. If you were to tell me that you loved me but you never showed me that you loved me. I would probably have a difficult time thinking that you truly loved me. You can’t just say things; you must put into practice what you are saying. Even as Christians, anyone can say I’m a Christian, but your actions need to show that you are.

I had more to say in this blog until I started typing. I think it’s because I know that loving someone will involve risk and I have a difficult time accepting that at times. I do know that when you love someone you care about them so much and would do anything for them. A year ago, I loved someone so much; I showed them every day that I loved them by my actions. Just because that person is not in my life anymore doesn’t mean that I don’t love them. I will always love them because it wasn’t just a feeling that I had toward them. One last thought before I go, Pastor Ed made this statement this morning: The inside is way more important that the outside. I know that I may be a little picky in the type of husband that I want one day but I know that it’s ok. I want someone to see the big heart that Savannah has on the inside and treasure that. Looks will fade away, people get old and gray. However, when you love someone unconditionally you won’t care how they look; it’s the heart that matters. At the end of the day you want the person who loves you through the good and difficult times. Real love.