I believe everyone has experienced moments that test their patience. Especially when we don't know how long we have to wait, we tend to feel a sense of urgency, becoming anxious, irritated, or even fearful. Yet, God, in His patience, shows us the path of peace and reassures us, saying, "Do not be afraid."
In Exodus 32, the people of Israel also lost their sense of peace and grew impatient while waiting for their leader, Moses, to return from Mount Sinai. Instead of waiting for God's timing, they tried to solve their uncertainty by creating their own god, ultimately bringing destruction upon themselves.
Don't we sometimes do the same? In this artwork, the restless heart of humanity is expressed through golden waves (like how Aaron and Israelites start building golden calf), while the heart of God, who patiently guides us on the path of peace, is depicted in vibrant colors.
The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay,
but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:9
Reflection Questions
1. What tested your patience lately?
Do you think this particular impatience is coming from fear?
If there is, what are the ways that we can entrust that fear to God?
Is there anything that requires repentance? Repentance is not merely reflecting on bad things we have done, but adjusting our understanding/belief/mindset to what God say it is (Romans 12:2). This can be done sorely because what He has done for our burdens, sin, pain on the cross, and completely conquered it by resurrecting!
As we receive and come to know His great patient toward us, may that increasingly overflow through us to ourselves and others.
Thanks for reading & reflecting on God's patience (first characteristic of Love listed in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8) with me.
Keiko Yamada
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