Patience

Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.
-2 Peter 3:15


I’m sitting in the terminal at the airport, daylight slowly waning. My family and I are on our way to Florida to watch my brother and sister play ball. We are on a three hour delay.

Sure, there was groaning and frustration and a chorus of “Why didn’t we check the flight status before we left?”, but it has settled down and there is a quiet calm about the area. Restaurants and gift shops are slowly beginning to pack up for the day, and people are scattered around the pink plastic cushions overlooking the runway. Occasionally, other passengers walk by on their way to their gate, which will board on time. I watch all of this with interested eyes. Yes, we are delayed, but we are patient. We have to be. There’s nothing we can do about the situation, and eventually, when the time is right, our plane will arrive and we’ll be on our merry way.

We are human. We have short attention spans and even shorter tempers. God is God. He sees forever, knows our actions caused by our tempers, and loves us nonetheless. He is patient, watching us flail and flop on our own. When we’ve finally exhausted all of our options for personal satisfaction, His arms are waiting for us to run into them. And when our weary limbs are rested in His mighty embrace, He kisses our face, looks straight in our eyes, and, with a sweet smile, says, “You were worth the wait.”


Prayer:
God, I thank You that You are so patient with me. That You watch me stumble over and over, yet encourage me to get up and try again. And when I finally make it to You, You greet me with a warm, welcoming embrace. Thank You. Amen.