2 Reasons to be Patient During Trials

See if this lament sounds familiar: I’m tired of fighting so many battles. Every day drones on and on in the same manner. I have to ask myself what the reason is for the constant struggle. The answer is always the same:  I am getting an advanced degree in humility and patience. Lately, my new aura of gentleness is overwhelming.

My other response from deep within myself is that I must go through it to get to the other side. In other words, what is happening to me now is preparing me for a huge breakthrough—the biggest of my life…I’ll keep you posted.

Endings are Actually new Beginnings

There is usually a good reason for whatever is happening to us. Maybe we just aren’t aware of it yet. The closing of a window always leads to an open door somewhere. That’s not merely a cliché from The Sound of Music; it’s absolutely true!

We are given what we need at the time we require it; no more, no less. It’s no fun not having our desires immediately satisfied. However, there’s a method behind the madness.

Do we Truly Know What we Need?

Joyce Meyer, world renowned Bible teacher, gives a humorous extended analogy in which the parts of the body don’t cooperate because of jealousy. I’ll try to loosely summarize it:

• The eye is jealous of the hand because it gets to wear pretty jewelry. 
• The hand is tired of helping the foot put comfortable shoes on. It wants footwear, too. 
• The nose has a hankering to actually see the ring on the hand. It wouldn’t mind wearing the shoe, either. 
• (This is my own addition…) The body parts get together and form a union. They are going to strike unless they receive their desires immediately. Of course, the host person, the one with the bigger picture, is fully aware that fulfilling the body parts’ desires is counterproductive. She keeps the status quo despite noisy protests from every part of her body.

It’s an amusing illustration. On the other hand, it presents a realistic theme: Sometimes, we don’t know what’s good for us.   We cannot see the big picture. If something is denied to us, the reason is often practical:

• It wouldn’t be good for us. 
• Something better is coming. 
• Going through it will strengthen us.

Becky

She’s a friend who visited me at my house the other day. She was accompanied by her toddler daughter, Anna. The baby is almost to the crawling stage. My house is not baby proof. The little tyke was scooting around my living room crinkling papers, trying to put everything in her mouth, and attempting to go down stairs.

Anna probably wasn’t happy to be stopped from doing as she pleased at that moment. However, her mother and I knew what was necessary. Therefore, we prevented her from harming herself. Papers shouldn’t be wrinkled. Anna is not ready to negotiate stairs alone safely. Also, many objects are not safe to ingest.

Becky and I knew what was good for Anna; she didn’t. The toddler was incapable of analyzing the consequences of her rash actions. After all, she’s only a baby! We stopped Anna from moving forward for a good reason: it would have been dangerous.

How have you been protected from making unwise choices?