Patience
“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”
Matthew 7:11
My mom was a musician. She had a beautiful, soft voice. Not powerful, but peaceful. At night, she often came into the bedroom I shared with my little sister to sing us to sleep. We listened to her fingers pluck the strings with grace and timing. Rarely would she strum but performed what I now know to be challenging picking patterns. We watched her until we could no longer hold our eyes open.
I was seven years old when I informed my parents that it was time for me to have my own guitar. After all, I wanted to follow in mom’s footsteps. I can still feel the rush; sitting in class tapping my fingers, bouncing my knees up and down in anticipation for the second hand to hit 3:15. I’d cringe at the thought that my folks might be late to pick me up, which was not unusual.
We’d pull into the driveway of our modest home just off the highway, and I would sprint, shoving my little sister out of the way to get to our bedroom, hoping to find my new guitar waiting for me. Days, and then weeks passed… As a little one, that feeling of disappointment is profound! Learning patience is a nightmare to a child, the kind that keep you up at night.
That day did eventually arrive. My dad hid the box on my bed underneath the blankets. Oh, what joy filled my little heart as I tore the cardboard apart to hold my very own guitar. In the days that followed, I don’t remember my parents ever asking me to stop or quiet down. Hours of obnoxious, muddled practice filled the house. I was so pleased with every step of progress I made that I insisted my parents listen. Over and over again.
One of my earliest exercises in patience.
Consider this reality for a moment. “…He upholds the universe by the word of His power” (Heb 1:3). The One who holds time and space together with his Word, is our Father. And our Father LIKES to give good gifts to His children.
It is safe to say we are all waiting on God for one reason or another. May I propose that the gift He has for us in the duration is actually... patience? James 1:2-4 tells us to "count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."
There is purpose in the waiting.
Psalm 37:4 says “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” My prayer for us today is that we learn to delight in our Father while we wait on Him. And as we do so, perhaps we will find that He shapes our desires, bringing them into alignment with His good and perfect will.
As it turns out, my dad spent weeks searching for a guitar with a slightly smaller body that a seven-year-old can manage comfortably. But it’s no child’s guitar, and it is beautiful. He did good. Really good.
How comforting it is to know that our Heavenly Father sees both our needs and wants. When the disappointment becomes overwhelming, be encouraged my friend; He IS at work in our waiting.
We have such a good, good Father.
Aimee Norvell
