Good and upright is the LORD; Therefore He instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in justice, And He teaches the humble His way. (Psalms 25:8-9)

As a rule, I am what you might call an impatient person. Where many people like the byways, I would rather take the highways; why go 45 MPH when you can go 70 MPH? For me, it’s not about the journey, it’s about the getting there. Some years back, in the early days of my faith walk, I decided that patience would be a good virtue and, you guessed it, I prayed for patience. Like I said, I was pretty new in my faith and I just figured I would wake up one morning a patient woman. I was sure that instead of the the anxious, irritable, and impossible woman I was, I would be transformed into that woman Peter talks about; you know, the one with the quiet gentle spirit. (see 1 Peter 3:4)

That’s not quite how it worked out. All sorts of things began to “go wrong” in my life. My husband got sick. I began having problems at work. There were some difficult family issues. I became confronted with the kind of things that would even try the patience of Job. But I didn’t act like Job. I didn’t get patient, I got angry. LESSONS FROM JONAH [47] I looked more like Job’s wife! You remember Mrs. Job? She encouraged her husband with those infamous words in Job 2:9 “curse God and die”

I am so thankful that, even when I’m angry with God, He remains patient with me. God didn’t leave me in that hard, dry season. He used that season to begin to teach me patience. He began to teach me how to wait on Him, to trust in Him. It’s been many years since I prayed that prayer. I’m still no Job, but, by the grace of God, I’m no longer Mrs. Job either. I am so thankful that He who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it. That’s God’s way

©Sandra Bivens Smith 2015, 2017