When you think of patience, what do you usually think about?
I usually think of:
…driving – not reacting annoyed at the driver in front of me going too slow.
…my words – not letting my tongue sometimes get ahed of thinking first.
…work – not giving up so easily on a hard task at work, or project, or assignment.
…of little kids – how adorable they are, but also how they can sometimes test patience the most.
Any of this ring a bell?
Well, how about patience in relation to His presence?
God's presence is the most satisfying place to be in. Your heart cries out for it. So does mine. We will never be satisfied outside of knowing His presence. No matter what we medicate, mask, manipulate ourselves with, that stirring and hunger inside us is always there. You will never be satisfied until you have come to know His presence.
But in order to obtain the sweet reality of His presence right where we are, or in our secret place, we must know patience.
Patience in His presence is a necessary element to intimate relationship with the Father.
Have you ever, like me, rushed through a quiet time? Or never truly slowed down the mind?
It's the flesh in us not easily laying down it's sword when our spirits are asking it to surrender.
The flesh doesn't go down without a fight, and patience is how we fight.
After a long day at work, or a difficult conversation.
After a big decision to make, or a hard solution to implement.
These things have kept our senses, our emotions, our minds on high alert. On high activity.
And even though we might try and trick ourselves and pretend we can easily switch them off, we simply can't always do that.
Why? Because we are not a iPhone's.
We do not have an immediate power off button to our brains (I hear this is especially true of women, yes? :).
To really enter into communion with God, it takes a little more than hoping he turns on His God switch at our disposal.
He is a good God, patient with us, and requiring patience of us.
To enter into the inner courts of who He is, we must be willing to start at the outer courts. We must knock on the door first, and simply walk in the door of his house.
Here is where you can sit down with Him across the dining room table, and begin.
You sit and either make small talk or deep talk. But you simply start. Start somewhere. And then after He listens for a long while, you realize you have talked a lot. So you stop, breath, and ask what he thinks.
And then there's a pause. A long pause.
And what He says next is surprising. "Why don't we go sit on the couches?"
It's an invitation, not a command.
You say, "Yes, let's do that."
It’s a cozy set of couches, with a warm fire in the fireplace, and hot drinks on the coffee table with steam rising.
Your God just took the conversation from the kitchen table to the couches. You then realize that he actually cares. A smile crosses your face.
You feel more relaxed, more at peace.
And he begins to speak. It's not just the rightness of His words, it's how he's saying them. It's the comfort that is coming by just listening to Him speak.
And it becomes a conversation. One where you're not just dominating the conversation. You go back and forth. You each listen, you each talk. His advice though seems profoundly more accurate. But He somehow makes you feel so valued, and never condemned.
Your emotions begin to be more soft, yet more free.
There's maybe some tears, big smiles, laughter, contemplation, light bulb moments.
You soon realize, it's been a long time that you have both been sitting on the couches. Time just seemed to not matter as much.
He had drawn you in closer.
And then he does an even more surprising act. He scoots towards the edge of the seat cushion, and reaches his hands over to yours. He grabs them, and gently holds them in his. And he looks you directly and sincerely into your eyes. And he begins to say what your heart new it was longing for but didn't know how to say it. He says, "My child, you are the apple of my eye. I am overjoyed at who you are and what you have become. Let me speak into what your heart is needing…."
And he continues…
Continues to speak to you, exactly what your heart needed to hear for your situation.
And then you lean back into your seat, and realize, that you have just been into the Holy of Holies with your Father. Into His inner presence.
Selah
You both get up from the couches, go into the kitchen, and continue to take in the great moment you've just had. It's time to move on. But you know that you can't wait until you can do this again. It now has become the favorite part of your day, week, month. What you look forward to most.
His presence, has now become, a place for your heart.
Friends, God is serious about His presence, His good presence. He is not joking around with how profound it is.
And that is why He is calling us into a place of patience. Patience to know that He actually wants more than just 1 minute of us. Patience to know that we actually can obtain what the deep well of our hearts need and desire.
But it takes time. It takes, patience.
The lie is that patience is a mark of weakness. That efficiency in His presence means spiritual maturity. That's a lie.
The truth is that patience is a mark of strength. That effectiveness in His presence means spiritual maturity. That's a truth.
The longer you are a follower of Christ, the more you see the need for His presence. And the more you see you can't rush God and don’t want to. You actually want less and less to leave His presence. His presence is where your heart is found.
And when you know this place, and return to it often, creativity flows.
Art, music, words, ideas – are birthed.
Love, forgiveness, healing – are birthed.
Energy, rest, strength – are birthed.
If this is not your reality, that is okay. It is not completely my reality still. But it can be, more and more, for all of us.
If you would like, join me in this prayer:
"Lord, help me to see the blessing and good purpose of patience. To know that patience with you is a mark of our relationship and growth. Thank you for your patience and grace with me. I desire to know that same patience and grace with you. I release my burdens, I release my anxieties. I come to you with them, and ask for your guidance. Wash me with your presence. Cleanse me from within. Thank you for your healing hands. I bless your name. Amen!"
“A man of learned patience, is a man of great strength; of great love; of great wisdom.”
“If a man has not learned patience in the Lord, he will not know patience with you.”
“The depths of God's heart cannot be known by man, unless he has spent the time patiently diving down with His Father to those secret treasures.”
