Patience

Our family has a tradition of reading a Proverb every weekday morning. We have done this since Ryder was in Kindergarten in various forms and to various levels of success. This year we all meet at the table at 7am to read it together and so Dad can pray with us before we get going our separate ways for the day. I love Proverbs for many reasons but one of them is that they are so simple because they are written for youth. He says in Proverbs 1:1-4 "The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel; for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding worlds of insight; for acquiring a discipline and a prudent life, for what is right and just and fair, for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young-" So for that I think all children should have the Proverbs read to them. It was one book of the Bible written directly for them. It also gives them a place to understand Biblical worldview because the Proverbs give metaphors, riddles, and parables to teach God's truth. This teaches them to look for God's wisdom in all things. There are things that are true about the world because God says so....like lying is bad, helping the poor puts us on God's side, laziness in not godly, we are responsible for our actions, arguing is uncalled for...it just gives us practical ways to live like God wants us to. I love them because they are easily applied to our everyday life. (I secretly want to write a family devotional guide from them someday....shhhhh don't tell!)
Our Proverb for today was... Proverbs 19:11 A man's wisdom gives him patience, it is to his glory to overlook an offense. It really has spoken to me today because it reminded me we have patience when we are wise. A small child has no patience because they have no wisdom. They don't understand that they have to wait for anything because everything should happen now. Yet we see with God he is so patient. He has a long long term vision. He looks past actions to the heart of the situation. He is understand that we learn a lot along the way. He is after all the holder of wisdom and understanding. It reminds me of the Israelites and how God saved them from the hand Pharaoh. Remember all God did to free them. He called Moses, 10 plagues, splitting the Red Sea and they crossed on dry ground...then he leads them by fire and by a cloud. and yet they were rebellious and impatient. Dt 1:32-33 "In spite of all of this you did not trust in the Lord your God who went ahead of you on your journey in fire by night and in cloud by day to search out places for you to camp and show you the way you should go."
They had short term vision
All they could see is the present situation
They didn't not see the point of the current struggle they were in.
They thought they knew everything.
I can't keep from thinking....A man's wisdom gives him patience."

It also reminds me of ME! I am not always patient. I lose wisdom when I lose my patience.
I forget all HE has done.
I take the trust that belongs to him and place it on other people
I take to much stock in what I can do on my own.
I think that I know too much.....thank God he is patient with me!

I am probably more patient than I used to be but less than I should be. So I guess need to wise up and admit I too am a child and need to apply another Proverb (1:5) "let the wise listen and add to their learning." Just like it is wide for a child to listen to their father/mother because they know something more than you know. They see more than you see as a child....make me like this Lord...make me like this!