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Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Longsuffering

Perhaps you will need to have longsuffering when dealing with me!


Long-suffering means that we have patience with people.
God expects that we will have difficult people in our lives and He knows that it will sometimes be painful. So He calls us to suffer a long time with people, be patient with them, while He is working out His plan in our lives and in their lives. He is working out a plan in their lives! Who am I to mess with that?

This week’s Homekeeper’s Journal is all about Long-suffering ….

God has worked in my life regarding patience and long-suffering in these ways …………Long answer: I have never considered this question before.  I'm pretty sure I have always looked at long-suffering as a punishment.  Why should I have to suffer through this?  What have I done NOW?  *enter grown-up temper tantrum complete with foot-stomping* Short answer: He gave me children and a husband. :-)  PAHLESE do not read that to mean that I look at marriage and mothering as a punishment! Not so! (most days, anyway) I mean to say that I am an extremely selfish person who wants what she wants when she wants it...HOW she wants it...and this selfishness creates the need for God to use my very own family blessing as a lesson in long suffering sometimes.  That's all.  Maybe I'm supposed to be long suffering with myself!

The hardest part of showing long-suffering is …………. Keeping "that tone" out of my voice and not exhibiting "that posture" that gives my thoughts away EVERY TIME.  I am not being long-suffering if I am letting everyone around me know how irritated I am that I have to put up with this.  In fact, I once read a definition of long-suffering that hit the nail on the head: "Enduring provocation long and patiently"    http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/longsuffering?&qsrc=
PATIENTLY is the key.  I am not enduring provocation patiently if I am tapping my foot and snapping my fingers while sighing every five minutes...
 
The most rewarding part of showing long-suffering is ……….. Knowing in my heart of hearts that god is thinking "very well my good and faithful servant" when he sees me do it well...which I don't think he's seen yet.  Teehee.

The one kind situation that I have the most trouble showing long-suffering in is ………I'm not sure this is a situation as much as it is a time of day.  Every day.  Of every week...  all year long. lol.  But from the time I start making dinner until the children are in bed.  Those four hours are what I call the "witching hour" here because I'm tired.  I'm cranky.  I cannot see over myself to even care what anyone else is needing.  The tank is running on vapors. I want to hand the reigns over to the husband, but he doesn't want to take 'em because he's been working all day.  I want to change my name and move to Bermuda.  I'm making it a goal to work on this horrendous attitude from 4-8pm.  Maybe it can be a blog thing!  Basically, until this moment, I did NOT show long-suffering at this time of the day.  I'm going to work on that.

I see how kindness goes hand in hand with long-suffering because ………. It's just nicer to accept people, warts and all, than it is to point out how irritating their behavior is to me.  It's not all about ME!  lol. 

I want others to show long-suffering to me when ……… Well, when I am selfish and cranky and am running my mouth too much about things that, frankly, do not build anyone up or encourage anyone at all.  So...all the time? ;-)  Suddenly my husband is looking mighty attractive!  He's the KING of long suffering, apparently.

God shows long-suffering to me in these ways ……….. Well, he hasn't SMOTE yet, so, he shows me long-suffering all the time.  He shows me when I ignore him yet again.  He shows me when I say harsh words to my loved ones...especially when I say them to His darling babies.

Ephesians 4:1-4 says …..   1 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. 4 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.

This week I will begin to ask God to ……….. Teach me how to be long-suffering. Fix my heart so my attitude reflects His love and willingness to make allowances for His children.  Get me through the witching hour without sinning!

Until next time, my peeps!

Just Amy

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