“What do you love about Jesus?” was a question that my friend asked me yesterday. I had to think about that for a bit. These last few years I have learned about a new Jesus…not the one I grew up with, the one defined by man…but someone more infinitely beautiful. Someone who really loves. Someone who is real. Someone who is beside me at all times, even when I try to push Him away. “I love that He is patient” was my answer.
Yes, He is patient. And isn’t it marvellous that He is?
This last week I was thinking about the “violent” God that the Old Testament talks about. The underlying theme in all of it is love. He loved His people so much, and He wanted a relationship with them desperately…but they kept rejecting Him. But when you really think about it…He was patient. He gave them chance after chance. He forgave and blessed. He sent messengers to talk sense into the people. Thousands of years…He was patient.
And then He sent himself in the form of His son. Jesus was the epitome of patience. The motley crew of people that He walked with tested that patience every day. They were the reflection of what man is at his core…unfaithful, narcissistic, arrogant, lazy, competitive…and He loved them. Taught them. And He gave them new chances for redemption every day.
Why wouldn’t I follow someone like that?
I have so much to learn, even in this one area of my life. I can barely be patient for more than a minute. I want things to happen NOW! I want answers to my prayers NOW! I don’t have the patience for the process, the journey. I don’t want to let go of my worries, because sometimes it seems that God doesn’t worry enough about my issues. Someone has to keep them in the forefront. Right?
When you read 1 Corinthians chapter 13, the “love” chapter; it says, first on the list, that “love is patient”(4a). Love is patient? That’s the first definition? Yes.
Let that be what I think about today. He is patient. Because He loves me. I don’t have to be in a hurry to figure things out. May I trust in His patience, because I know that I will continue to screw things up as I journey through life. He’s telling me, “just take a step at a time, there’s no rush”.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 15:13 NIV