Recently a friend and I were talking and agreed that the things you often avoid are the things you find the most. If a type of person annoys you, you often end up working closely with them and if you struggle with an issue, you fight with it often. I've noticed that this is true in my own life.
I have prayed for patience. But rather than waking up one day with the ability to take everything in stride, I simply find more opportunities to be patient. There are traffic jams when I really want to get somewhere quickly, grocery stores closed when I stop to pick something up on the way home, no wireless signal when I really need it and of course falling short sometimes at what I've set out to do. It's hard to learn how to play the guitar in a day, in case you're wondering.
I used to think these things were part of a curse or sick joke being played on me. One morning I went to the grocery store to pick up eggs and I found that the store had literally been demolished the day before. Then I drove to three "not so convenient" stores before I found the eggs and cream I needed. To top it all off it made me late to the office. Arrgh! So as I become more familiar with these little "trials" I start to realize that I'm not being set up for failure but rather for success.
Success is not measured by our ability to DO, but by what Christ DID in our place. He lived a perfect life and no matter how many times we fail we can know that the pressure is off. We can count it all joy when we're tempted, knowing that in temptations we have the opportunity to let patience have it's perfect work that we may be perfect and complete, wanting for nothing.
The Bible says that we are more than Conquerors through Him that loves us. What's more than a conqueror? Someone who has already conquered! And how do we live this way? Just like when Peter stepped out on the water, we have to keep our eyes on Christ. It's when we look away that we start to sink.
by: Michael Sykes