Devotional for Monday, May 16, 2016
“Patience At Work In You”
by Dona Hake
It is vital that we continue to walk patiently with those we live with and work with. There is also the whole realm of patiently waiting for circumstances to change in our life. Today I am reminded of patience as I think of a particular area I travel through almost every day. It has been road work in progress for years now. At times the work these workers are doing will bring work hour traffic to a halt, and if you do not plan for this, it may make you late. It seems they are working diligently on this, but honestly at times it seems like there is little progress. I simply do not understand all that goes into such an undertaking so I would never totally understand all the details and working of such a great project. I have come to understand that regardless if I understand what is going on or not this area commands my patience. I see this to be somewhat of an analogy of our lives in progress as the Lord works in us.
Today I want to encourage you in the fact that the Lord has a great work to do in you. It requires of you that you stay submissive to His loving hand. We need to permit God the time that He needs for His timing is perfect timing! This great work requires that you be humble in times that the Holy Spirit corrects you to keep you on the right path. It also requires you to be patient with yourself as the Lord is working on your heart and on your life. You see, so many times we desire to see things happen quicker than what they do. Let us be patient with the work that the Lord is doing in our lives.
As we pursue to grow in God’s love and in His Word sometimes we focus too much on what we are NOT rather that how far He has brought us. With any work that needs done in us there needs to be a time of waiting for His loving hand to work. I guess there are all times we wished He would work a bit faster, but His wisdom encompasses more than we will ever understand. As He works, He promises that the transformation will indeed happen, but remember sometimes we can tend to be impatient in that which we have to wait for.
Be encouraged today that as you are applying yourself to do that which is right and good in His sight that His loving hand is at work in your life. Guard yourself from focusing on your weaknesses but rather the gifts, the strengths and abilities He has blessed you with. As we keep our hearts humble and open to Him, He will be faithful to show us the areas in which we need to give attention. He will lead and guide us into ALL truth in every area of our lives! God bless you.