Patience is Creative

John Chrysostom, the golden tongued orator of yesteryear, defined longsuffering as the grace that belongs to a man who has the power to avenge himself but who does not.

John and Susannah Wesley had 21 children. He said to Susannah of one: “How do you have the patience to tell that blockhead the same thing 20 times over?”

Susannah who regularly manifested a Christlike temperament said, “If I had told him but nineteen times, I should have lost all my labor.”

Longsuffering produces a better product. When the masterful artist Leonardo da Vinci was painting his famous “Last Supper” he was chided for standing for long periods staring at the canvas without making a stroke. Someone queried, “Why do you do this?” He answered, “When I pause the longest, I make the most telling strokes with my brush.”

Patience restricts pride. Paul had a “thorn in the flesh” which he described as a messenger of Satan. He said it was given to him “lest he should be exalted above measure,” that is, to prevent him from having an ego trip (II Cor. 2: 7). He had to be longsuffering to endure his thorn in the flesh and it was to his benefit.

Patience renews trust. We are told the Lord won’t allow us to be tempted above that which we are able. He won’t give us a test we can’t pass. Years of experience proves this. There are brief intervals when it does not seem reasonable, but over a period of time it proves to be so.

In nature we see examples of this. A diamond is simply a lump of coal that didn’t quit working.

When an irritating object, like a grain of sand, gets under the mantle of an oyster it simply covers the irritant with the most precious part of its being. The result, a beautiful pearl. The irritation caused by the foreign object is stopped by it being encrusted with the pearly formation. A true pearl is a simple example of longsuffering’s victory over irritation.

Patience revives others. We are told to “bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6: 2). When we exercise long suffering in supporting others we revive them.

God has been long suffering with you. Why? What is it He desires to achieve through you?

“… if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently” (Romans 8: 25)

Mother’s Path of Life

In honor of Mother’s Day.

In giving loving consideration to the strategic role of mothers, evaluate this parody. It gives all the greater reason to honor mothers. 

“Is the way long?” she asked. Her guide answered, “Yes, and the way is hard. You will be old before you reach the end of it, but the end will be better than the beginning.”

The young mother was happy and she could not believe that anything could be better than these years. So, she played with her children and gathered flowers for them along the way. She played with them in the clear streams as the sun shone on them and life was good.

The young mother said, “Nothing will ever be lovelier than this.”

Then night came, and a storm, and the path was dark and the children shook with fear in the cold. The mother drew them near and reassured them with her love. The children said, “Oh, mother, we are not afraid, for you are near and no harm can come to us.”

Then the mother said, “This is better than the brightest of days for I have taught my children courage.”

Then came the morning. There was a hill ahead and as the children climbed they grew weary and so did their mother, but she said to her children, “A little patience and we are there.” So the children climbed. When they reached the top they said, “We could not have done it without you, mother.”

And the mother said, “This is a better day than the last, for my children have learned fortitude in the face of difficulty. Yesterday I gave them courage, today I have given them strength.”

The next day came strange clouds that darkened the earth – clouds of hate, bitterness, and evil – and as the children groped and stumbled the mother said, “Look up. Lift your eyes to the light.” The children looked and saw above the clouds The Everlasting Glory of God. He guided them and brought them beyond the darkness.

That night the mother said, “This is the best day of all, for I have shown my children God.”

The days went on, and the weeks and the months and the years, and the mother grew old, and she was a little bent. The children were now tall and strong and straight and walked with courage. When the way was rough, they lifted her, for she was light as a feather; and at last they came to a hill, and beyond the hill they could see a shining road and golden gates flung open wide.

The mother said, “I have reached the end of my journey. Now I know that the end is better than the beginning, for my children can walk alone, and their children after them.”

The children said, “You will always walk with us, mother, even when you have gone through the gates.”

The children stood and watched her as she went on alone and the gates closed after her. They said, “We cannot see her, but she is with us still. A mother like ours is more than a memory. She is a living Presence.”

“…do not despise your mother when she is old” (Proverbs 23: 22).

Thanks to all worthy moms and Happy Mother’s Day.

I want to pay tribute to two moms, the one who gave me birth and the one who gave our children birth.

Don’t Give up on America

There has never been a nation that hasn’t suffered a decline and eventual death and America is not going to be an exception. BUT it doesn’t have to be now. It is true we have never had more major crises internally and abroad at once, but don’t give up on America. Our greatest threat is in America giving up on God.

Abraham Lincoln, in a Proclamation appointing a National Prayer Day, got it right when he noted: “Whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins, and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope, that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.”

Lamentably there is no such mood prevailing in our nation. Prayer is perceived to be so void in America that a delegation of South Korea Christians recently came to America to conduct prayer vigils across the nation.

Three times before America has been in a position as desperate as an elephant hanging over a cliff  by its trunk to a bush. In each of three instances America was as devoid of a spiritual base as we are now. Three times a moral malaise has engulfed the land. In each instance God responded to concerted prayer and renewal followed.

1714 – 1770 a religious and social awakening resulted.

1790 – 1820 a great frontier revival swept the land.

1890 – 1920 a social gospel dispelled despair.

This type of national revival is not true just in America. There was such a spiritual movement in Wales some cities dismissed their police force feeling there was such a moral response they were not needed. That is a lesson on how to do it in America for those wanting to dismiss the police.

I believe God is waiting to see our response and determine His role.

One of the bloodiest Civil War Generals, William Tecumseh Sherman, had a spiritually maturing experience with the Lord in his latter years. Soon thereafter his beloved wife died. He wrote one of the most popular ministers of the day, DeWitt Talmadge, the following.

“I am sure that you know that the God who create the minnow, and who has molded the rose and the carnation giving each its sweet fragrance, will provide for those mortal men who strive to do right in this world which He Himself has stocked with birds, animals, and men. At all events I will trust Him with absolute confidence.”

Regardless of the result of our national spiritual conduct, may we follow the example of the Old Testament leader Joshua who charged his people to serve the Lord and said “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.”  May our response be that of his people, “So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods…” (Joshua 24: 15, 16).

Don’t give up on God lest God give up on us.

Be Prepared

As a youth I was excited to join the Boy Scouts and learn the motto: “Be Prepared.” In 1907, Baden-Powell, an English soldier, devised the Scout motto: and said it meant “you are always in a state of readiness in mind and body to do your duty.” Good, no, great idea. By spending time as Scouts, young people learn to handle almost anything life puts in front of them.

To flesh out the idea it is good to always have a contingency plan, a backup plan as to what to do in the event of an unpredictable circumstance. Make a mental list of plans of action in the event needs arise. Be prepared.

Scouting has a plan for young boys to earn merit badges. These are things they must merit regarding First Aid, Citizenship in the Community, Citizenship in Society, Citizenship in the World, Communication, and Cooking.

I remember earning the final of twenty-one required to become an Eagle Scout. I went further and earned three Palms. It was a big deal.

Consider these things to prepare for should a sudden need arise: a house fire, a significant accident or sickness, an unexpected financial emergency, or a death.

Shift gears and make a spiritual application of the motto “Be Prepared.” Think of contingencies needed in your spiritual life.

There is the inevitable, the spiritual contingency regarding death. What arrangement do you need to make in order to be prepared in the event a close loved one dies? Push this train of thought regarding your own life. What do you need to do in that event? Do you have a will? Regardless of your age a will is needed. Some even plan their funeral, pick out a casket, is cremation an option, and select participants to participate in your funeral. Do it and put it behind you.

There is a TV ad sponsored by the government regarding travel abroad. It relates principally to drug laws. The theme: “Know before you go.” Apply that to your death. Do you know where you would go if you were to die today? That is the ultimate for which you should be prepared. Sincere steps you should take in order to be prepared are: make an earnest request of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and the gift of new life followed by a loving commitment to Jesus as Savior. I repeat “know before you go” and “be prepared.”

Jesus said, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14: 3). Are you prepared for that prepared place?

You, God, and Aging – Part Two

There are two groups secure enough to laugh at themselves and don’t mind others doing it. The elderly are foremost among the self-confident. That said, lighten your load and enjoy their (no, our) bequest to younger generations.

“None of us are as old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.” – Henry David Thoreau

“You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair.” – Douglas MacArthur

“Live your life and forget your age.” – Norman Vincent Peale

“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are.” – Satchel Paige

“Everyone is the age of their heart.” – Guatemalan Proverb

“Too old to plant trees for my own gratification, I shall do it for my posterity.” – Thomas Jefferson

“The key to successful aging is to pay as little attention to it as possible.” – Judith Regan

“We should so provide for old age that it should have no urgent wants of this world to absorb it from meditation on the next.” – Pearl S. Buck

“Among all my patients in the second half of life . . . there has not been one whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook on life.” – Dr. Carl Jung

And now a bit on the lighter side. Consider the quotes or alleged quotes.

“My memory’s not as sharp as it used to be.” Also, my memory is not as sharp as it used to be.”

“Don’t give me any thing that has an extended warranty.”

“These days about half the stuff in my shopping cart says, ‘For fast relief.’”

“I am the life of the party… Even if it lasts past 8:00 p.m.”

“I am very good at opening child proof caps . . . . With a hammer.”

“I’m smiling all the time because I can’t hear a word you are saying.”

“I’m sure everything I can’t find is in a safe secure place, somewhere.”

“I’m beginning to realize aging is not for wimps.”

“Spread the laughter. Share the cheer. Let’s be happy while we are here.”

THE SENILITY PRAYER: “Grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway, the good fortune to run into the ones I do like, and the eyesight to tell the difference.”   

And now on a more serious side. Exercise good judgment knowing there is another life awaiting and there is only one way to prepare for eternity and that is to invest your life with Jesus.