Of Patience, Prayers and Computer Woes

Hello, gentle readers...

Well, I'm sure you've been wondering what happened to me. We'll get to that in a minute. First, have you ever considered the general rules of PATIENCE?

Rule #1
Patience is part of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)

Rule #2
Don't ever pray for patience

because...

Rule #3
The only way to get it is to be tested beyond human strength!

So, if you continue reading in Galatians 5:24-26, you see that to obtain the fruit of the Spirit, we must put to death the sinful nature we carry and allow God's Spirit to reign in our lives. Now what about the sinful nature? Were we born with it? Or is it simply a byproduct of the life that we live here on Earth, always scraping to get by and fighting the nastiness that comes with being in the world? I guess there are compelling arguments for both sides. Me? It really doesn't matter to me HOW it got there. What matters is WHAT I do with it now that it IS here.

That saying, "crucify the sinful nature" seems so drastic. But, I suppose it is the only way to deal with it. I mean, were you fighting a flesh eating bacteria, wouldn't you rather lop off the body part than die? This is what is offered to us by learning to be self-controlled. Because, really, isn't that the true nature of dying to self? When you look at the fruit list in Galatians, it doesn't take long to realize that the entire foundation of the fruit of the Spirit is self-control.

That being said, on to the computer woes. Our computer decided to be less than cooperative the past week. Now, you must understand a big part of me is that I am completely techno-impaired. Just like the light switch runs the electricity in the house, so should the little green button run the computer. I know I don't get how it all runs. I don't have to. It just has to do it's whirly-gig thing when the light comes on. Then, I'm pretty much good to go.

Well, I guess that's why the writer of James tells us to consider it a blessing when we face trials. Apparently, this is God's way of telling us to learn patience. Oh, and I can be such a slow learner! Eegads!! So, I have spent the week messing with this monstrous piece of metal until my thinker is sore. Somehow, it started working. On to the next part...

My dear friend, Erny, told me the story again of his aunt (I believe) who had an old beater of a car. It just wouldn't run for anyone...except her. She faithfully prayed and trusted God to bring that beater to life for her daily comings and goings. And, wouldn't you know it? God put the putter in that car each day she needed it. What made the difference? Her prayer of faith! Yes, the prayer of faith.

God's not bound by machines. God's bound only by our lack of faith. I figure, if He can create the worlds and the universe as we know it, then a silly little machine should be a piece of cake. Made sense to me. So, I finally stopped trying to fix it on my own and asked God for His help. I admitted that technical stuff wasn't my strong point and it certainly was His. I finally...yes, finally...decided to ask God for help. How backward and self-determined can I be? Well, enough that I lost five days to a machine that only took God a second to fix and get running.

So, lesson learned. God even cares about the machinery in my life because it's important to me. So, I would encourage you today to look at whatever it is in your life that is taxing your brain and trying your patience. My guess would be that God is trying to teach you something: patience. Patience and prayer are always the correct response to troubling times.

May God richly bless you this day and show you the way to maturity in the Spirit and exemplifying His fruit in your lives.

CLG-B