Hopefully as you reflect on your summer experiences in the last month, you can say you’ve logged some good times of relaxation.
Summer is the time to loosen our grip, unwind and just let the world go by, at least for a little while.
The last thing we want to do during these lazy, hazy days of summer is think too much about anything too serious. But today I am going to ask you to do just that. Here is the question: what is one life lesson you have learned this summer up to this point?
Is there one thing that has come out of your summer experience where you say, “I didn’t know this before.” Or maybe you’re reminded, “I really need to work on this area in my life.”
The other day, I returned from my summer vacation in Kelowna. It was a good time to reconnect with friends and family and to just to take life a little less seriously. But during my time away, I was faced with the reality that there is one life lesson that I have not been doing a very good job learning, and that is to be more patient.
God, who knows all about me, helped me realize that I am not very patient at times and that I needed a refresher’s course.
For instance, we stayed with my parents who are both in their 90s and who are experiencing hearing difficulties, slow mobility and some confusion. I had to intentionally change how I addressed them, which took more patience on my part.
Another example of this lesson on patience is that I didn’t have a lot of patience with traffic. Kelowna is a beautiful place to visit, but the daily traffic raises stress levels.
I am always amazed how God gives me lessons to learn even during the summer. Patience is hard to learn. And to add to this lesson, a sermon I heard in church the other Sunday while in Kelowna was on patience. Ok God, I hear what you’re saying!
Maybe you are like me and you are learning anew this summer that important life lesson called ‘patience.’
Why is patience so hard to learn? I think it’s like one person put it, our society has “hurry sickness.”
We live with underlying uneasinesss. We get frustrated when life doesn’t turn out like we’d like it to.
So the question is, how do we become more patient? It won’t be easy. It requires that we make up our mind to move in that direction.
Colossians 3:12, 13 says, “God has chosen you and made you His holy people. He loves you. So always do these things: Show mercy to others, be kind, humble, gentle and patient. Get along with each other and forgive each other. If someone does wrong to you, forgive that person because the Lord forgave you.”
Two quick lessons here:
One, to be patient we need to learn to bear with each other. Who drives you nuts these days? We need to learn to put up with people the way they are.
We are all made different, none of us are perfect, including ourselves, right?
Second, let’s forgive each other. Like God, let us be slow to anger and abound in love, because when we do, we line up our heart with God’s heart. When things don’t go as they should or people are not what they should be, chose to be slow to anger.
What would your world look like if you abounded in love? If you were the first to forgive, to reconcile with others. The thing is, all patience is impossible unless God helps us out. Have you asked God to help you to put up with those around you... forgive them? You can count on Him to help because that will make you more like Him.
Summer lessons. Which one do you need to learn? If it’s patience, the sooner we take steps to learning it, the better life will be for all of us.
This column is submitted by Tri-Community Baptist Church in Beiseker.
