Patience

I was asked to give a talk on Patience. Truthfully - I wasn't very excited about the topic or the timing. Not to mention I spoke in church last month after girls camp. This was not a good week to be preparing a talk on any topic. I agreed because 1) I don't say no when asked to give a talk. 2) I decided I could use some blessings & I didn't think I should look a gift blessing in the mouth.

I started out talking about a dream I had last night. I was going church to give my talk, but something very important & unavoidable came up & I was unable to make it to church. I was sitting there trying very hard to remember what it was so I could leave, but I couldn't remember, so I stayed to give my talk. I contemplated simply sitting there until Brother Carter became quite uncomfortable that I was not standing up, so he could learn patience, but I didn't think that would be appropriate. I also said my talk could consist of nothing more than "Be Patient" & I could sit down, but I suspect they expected a little more than a 30 second talk from me today. I informed them that I am not the poster child for patience, but really who is? I asked why does it matter if we have patience? I told two stories:

When I was around 14, my friend Laurie Fugal & I decided to make cookies. I don't remember if we ever actually made the cookies, but this I do remember. We had a flour fight. We were covered in head to toe with flour. In the process of covering each other from head to toe with flour, we managed to coat every inch of the floor, ceiling, cupboards, counters, chairs etc. of the kitchen dining room area. It was a real to life, full fledged mess. Then we froze. I heard my mom walking up the stairs. She opened the door & saw the mess & saw us, then shook her head & said quite sweetly, make sure you clean it up, girls. Then she closed the door and went back downstairs. We did clean it up (& I doubt we did as stellar of a job as she would have liked) She never said another word about it to me. That day, my mom taught me patience.

When I was around 17, my Laurel class Young Woman leader, Sister Dottie Schulte, sat down with me to set some new goals for the year. She suggested that I set a goal to not foul out at any church basketball games that year. That was asking a lot. I timed my fouling out to be late enough in the game that I knew we were going to win & to leave no doubt in my opponents mind that I was an intimidating foe. But I took her up on the challenge, & I did it. She taught me about restraint & patience requires restraint.

Then I gave the talk I actually prepared, thus:

Patience is:

Patient with yourself

Patient with others

Enduring – to the end, remembering spiritual experiences when you’re not feeling very spiritual

Waiting: in a line, in traffic, for Christmas, on the Lord, for an answer to prayer

In affliction: Romans 5:3 Tribulation worketh patience

Faith: that God lives and if he lives – faith that he is aware of you, faith that God does see the bigger picture of you and your life.

A prayer to God asking for patience & mercy

A prayer to God thanking him for being patient with you while you learn that lesson again.

Taking a deep breath & slowing down. “Be Still and know that I am God”

If there is something in your life that is requiring more patience than you have, pray for help.

Waiting patiently on the Lord = Faith

Isn’t it really the Lord waiting patiently on you? There is a reason why we are taught line upon line, milk before meat. I think we sometimes forget why. He’s waiting for you. I don’t believe God wants to withhold anything from us. He has set the example of patience, Revelation 3:20 – “Behold I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will com in to him.” How many times have we heard his voice and not opened the door? Because of pride? Because of shame? The scripture said anyone. There are no qualifications for opening your heart and your life to your Savior.

Romans 5:3 So if as Romans says that tribulation (or trials of life – the things that most practice your patience) worketh patience and if patience is love and faith and it will bring us closer to God and more like God, I don’t think any of us need to wonder why we need to learn patience with ourselves, our families, any others we deal with in life. We just need to figure out how and the best way is to ask for help from Heavenly Father who is perfect in his patience with us. He sent his son who is like him in thought and deed to show us the example of how to be patient.

He is waiting patiently for us to learn our lessons line upon line so he can teach us more about who he is and who we are. We need to be patient as life teaches us the lessons we need to learn. (EXAMPLE…Forgiving myself. ...About when I learned that one of the meanings of the word atonement is ‘to cover’. Psalms 32:1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Ps. 84:9 “Behold, O God, our shield, and look upon the face of Thine Anointed” Those scriptures and that concept was a breakthrough for me and I was no longer held back by guilt. I have to remember that from time to time, but I was able to be taught more through the spirit as I took that step or learned that concept one line at a time. Taking a step or two toward becoming more patient, will also allow the influence of the spirit to be greater.

At times it seems that enduring to the end requires a lot of patience on your part. Have faith while you wait patiently on the Lord. Let your faith turn to belief and belief turn to knowledge and then enduring will become more like an exercise in godly love than one in of patience. Promise: Isaiah 40:31

I closed with my new found testimony of the importance of being patient, that God lives & he sent us here to learn to be more like him. He didn't send us here for any reason other than to learn how to be like him. We are his work & his glory. We each have such varied experiences but they are all designed to allow us to return to him.