Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on this dear reader. In Christ Jesus' Name, amen.
The Bible is filled with folks whose patience came only because of their faith in God. They knew that if they were called to something by God, God would provide and God would prevail. There's an awful long time in some cases between day one and the day of that day when one can say, "God prevailed!" This morning I was thinking about Noah and his trust in God in doing all that God asked. His was a tall order; build a boat, then fill it with pairs of animals. It takes a lot of patience to care for a pet, can you imagine pairing up all kinds of animals? Most families who have children go through periods of having all kinds of animals in the house. Our girls prevailed in their request for a cat, one we adopted but who in those days did not come with a prepaid sterilization operation. That one cat quickly turned into many cats, most of which, thank God, were given away. We went through a guinea pig phase, a rabbit phase, dogs of all kinds, shapes and sizes, and yes, birds. I lost count of how many and how much these ventures cost.
I think those seven days between God closing the door of the ark until that first rain must have been the hardest. Noah and Mrs. Noah and Team Noah waited and waited. Seven days is a long time. All it would have taken to make it a difficult seven days would have been one of the family members to begin to squirm and ask, "Are we there yet?" Worse would have been, "Are you sure GOD asked you to do this or is this just one of your schemes because you want a boat?" And then, yes, "Who's going to bathe and feed all these animals? If you think it's going to be, you're crazy!"
Faith and trust in God brings us the beginning of patience. Prayer, reflection, meditation, and a daily walk with God blesses us with having the Holy Spirit-led patience as we face what we face.
PRAYER: Loving God for the experience of living, I am thankful. For the blessing and joy of living with others I am also glad. Grant to me deeper faith for deeper trust in You so that as I face decisions and the test of patience I can say, "God, you are with me and together You and I will make the right decision." I ask this in Jesus Christ's precious Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
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