PASSIONATE PATIENCE

 What on earth is passionate patience?  I know what patience is.  And I know what passion is.  but how do you define passionate patience?

This is the wrong day for riddles.  I've just got too much going on.  And nothing seems to be moving towards advancement.  It seems I am stalled in all my activities, in one way or another.  Is it going to be "one of those days"?

First, my tooth. At my age, the teeth begin to lose their strength.  Yet their purpose is most important to continued life. I'm turning 80 this year and want to feel good.  But, I had an important tooth which had been crowned nicely become loose. "Get it out right away", my dentist said," before you swallow it." So, it was removed.  Now, what was to replace it?  An implant?  Just the thing.  But the hole left by the root of the tooth was too close to my sinus cavity for an implant, so they said, "We must rebuild the bony area in order to implant a tooth. Now this will be a process and overall it will take about 4 months."

We're moving,  you know. Bought a small house; sold the bigger house.  Still, we'll need a small house in the north.  But can't look for that yet, because we first must close on the sold house. This all seemed a normal thing to do when we started out.  It seemed perfectly clear.  God even spoke to Jerry and told him how we should do it. But, God didn't say to do it slowly, one thing at a time. So, we've put ourselves in a situation of "too much going on."

So, we have tooth payments, travel payments, wedding expenses, moving expenses, improvement expenses because the new, small house is quite old, expenses on the sold house to please the new owner and we're trying to do it all at once.! Plus, I can't seem to even give away my clothes hanging in the closet which I don't want to move to any house.

But, and that's a big B, even if I feel stymied, am I really?  While journaling this morning, I came across Romans 5:3 and 4, which reads in part:  "Troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next."  And a bit later it says, "In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling short-changed."

Ah, that's the word.  That's exactly the right word.  That's how I felt today!  Notice I say felt? Writing all of this out in a scream to you, seems to have quieted my soul somewhat.  So, although I felt short-changed, am I really?  No, I don't think so.  God will not short-change me.  All He asks of me is to trust and be patient.  Hmm.  Loving God could mean passion.  Having trust could mean patience.  So, Loving God and trusting Him completely must mean passionate patience.

Now, passionate patience doesn't come without believing in it and recognizing that without it you and I might be in a fix. I don't operate very well without confidence in God and without God's confidence  in me, which I have to trust.  So, my feelings are not important.  All is going along, maybe not perfectly and quickly, but  going forward.  All is in readiness for God's Way.  My feelings are not important; it is His timing and His perfection that is important.  And on this I must live.  I must.

I have a strong desire to believe all will come to pass in God's time--passionate patience.

Well, there you go.....Jo