I personally feel like we live in a world where if we want it we get it. Its so easy to just swipe that credit card and pay for it later. I remember as a kid doing odd jobs and saving birthday money to be able to buy that specific toy. I always felt so proud of the item I earned money to purchase and usually I was so careful with it and took care of it because I understood the value of it. These are values and character traits I am wanting to instill in my children. Patience.
I believe that Patience is a very hard thing to manage. I constantly find myself even struggling with the waiting. Patience is a valuable thing and God himself even believes patience is important to have.
James 1:3-4 - Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
I came across a passage the other day where patience was put into practice. Its in the book of Genesis chapter 8 and its about Noah and the Ark.
In this chapter Noah and his family have been on the ark for a very long time. One year and 17 days to be exact! I'm certain there was a lot of cabin fever going on! Imagine living in a barn with all the smells and noises of the animals for over a year with no way to get outside and get sunshine. Oh, and the sound of rain, constantly for 40 days and nights, and the rocking! The conditions were far from sunny. Plus there was not much space to just get away from each other. The whole Noah family in one house together. Grown men living with mom and dad again. And their wives with them. I know I would be ready to get off that ark!!
Noah had been watching the conditions of the weather, earth and remaining water. He sent out a raven and a dove. The dove returned the first time, but the second time the dove came back, he had an olive branch. Finally, things were beginning to grow again. How excited Noah must have been to see that things were beginning to dry out and grow. In verse 13 Noah notes that "the face of the ground was dry" and then again in verse 14 "was the earth dried" I bet Noah was jumping for joy. And I can just imagine all the preparations the ladies were making for getting off the ark.
But it says in verses 15 - 19 And God spake unto Noah, saying, Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee. Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee....And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him: every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.
No one got off the ark until God told them to. Man what patience! I know how I feel after a three hour car ride. Imagine a year! I think if I'd have been with Noah I'd have been saying "Come on! Lets GO!!" But Noah waited. He waited for God to give him the go ahead. This is a good example to us that even though we may be able to see that next step in our lives, sometimes we just need to wait for God to say "GO!"
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