Patience is not the ability to wait, it's how you act while waiting

Patience is not the ability to wait, it's how you act while waiting

How any times have you waited for a bus, a phone call or that special present or for something to arrive?

You wait around, keep looking at your watch, tapping for foot and you start to think, will it ever happen, will it ever arrive.

The thing is we tend to be a society that wants everything to happen straight away.

Patience (or forbearing) is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances,
which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without acting on annoyance/anger in a negative way; or exhibiting forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties. Patience is the level of endurance one can take before negativity.

Trust in God
Proverbs 3:5-7 NIV

Trust in the Lord  with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight..

If you put your trust in God then you can enjoy your life, whilst God is at work sorting your life out.

Have you ever seen a picture of God with a wrist watch or clock?

No because God's time span is infinite and his timing is always perfect

God has a plan, God has a timing, and God has a wonderful, unique plan for your life.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 NIV

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord , "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

So what should you do whilst waiting for God?

Pray. To God, because he is listening always.

Study. God's word for guidance

Give thanks. Even if you think that God hasn't answered your prayers or is listening to you, it just seems God is at work on a bigger and better plan for your life.

Also keep your words in line with God's word.

And stay busy helping others, because the devil makes work for idol hands.

The quickest way to get your blessing is to, be a blessing to someone else to who needs a blessing.

"God it's your will, your way and your timing and in the keen while I'm just gonna enjoy my life".

Psalm 106:12-15 AMP

Then they believed His words [trusting in, relying on them]; they sang His praise. 

But they hastily forgot His works; they did not [earnestly] wait for His plans [to develop] regarding them, 

But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted  and  tried to restrain God [with their insistent desires] in the desert.  

And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their souls  and  [thinned their numbers by] disease and death.

Psalm 31:14 AMP

But I trusted in, relied on, and was confident in You, O Lord; I said, You are my God.

There have been many times in my life I have wanted something and kept on at my mum "oh please can I have it, I really want it." and when I received it, I realised  that I didn't need it or want so much after all and that my mum had just given in to keep me asking all the time.

What if you had a child that kept on asking you for sweets and you just gave them to them every time to stop them asking all the time, and when you gave in and gave them the sweets the never said thank you?

We must remember that sometimes God also says no.

God answers three ways.

Yes, because he knows it's something that we need, that will benefit us,

No, because we don't need it or it is something that could harm us.

Wait, Because he knows that if we wait for it we will appreciate it more when we receive it.

There have been many times that I have gone through testing times and have been wanting something and have had to wait for it, and for some things I am still waiting, but I now know that If it is something that God feels that I need and will benefit me then he will provide it for me.

Because i know that in these times i draw closer to and rely on God more

James 1:2-4 NIV

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

The important thing we must also remember is to say thank you, not just for what we receive, but also for what we don't receive

So i hope and pray that the next time you are waiting for something you stop and think, is it something I REALLY need, and if you don't receive it then hopefully you will know that God is working on something better for you.

Answers to pray

As some of you know I am engaged to the most amazing beautiful young woman, who a couple of weeks ago surprised me at work whilst I was having a rather stressful day that she had gone out and brought the wedding dress, It was a bit of a shock but I was both happy and a bit sad.

Happy that she had found the perfect dress,
Sad that because of my low wage I had not been able to put much towards the wedding fund yet, so I prayed for God to help me find a way to put some money towards the wedding fund.

A few days later after another stressful day at work, dealing with a member of staff who I didn't get on with too well, I got home to find a brown envelope on the door mat when i got in.

I looked down and thought, oh great now what, another bill.

I bent down and picked it up, and opened it. The top of the letter read Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. I thought to my self great now what have I done wrong, I read down further to find that I wasn't in trouble, but I had been given a tax rebate out of the blue.

I'll be honest the temptation had been there to just blow it on something nice, then I remembered the prayer I had said for God to help me find some money towards the wedding, so I put the money into our joint account and prayed for guidance on what to use the money for towards the wedding fund.

Last Friday (19/9/2014) I was working an early shift at work (8-12) so i arranged to meet one of my friends for lunch (one of my fiancees brides maids), whilst having lunch I decided i was gonna have a look at the price of the tuxedoes for the wedding to at least get an idea on how much it would cost me.

I went to one shop and asked, but i really didn't like the young guy who I spoke to and didn't really like the suits he offered me, plus the price was quiet high in my opinion.

So I decided to take a look at another shop in town, I went in and explained to the young guy what i was after and he couldn't have been more helpful, he made a few notes and then asked would I like a quote for the package, so I said yes as it would give me an idea of how much it was gonna cost me.

When he turned the piece of paper round with the quote on I was stunned, it was for the exact amount that the tax rebate had been for, I have no doubt that God had listened to my pray and answered it.

Also later that day I heard that a family that I am good friends with had received a great answer to pray as well, they had been facing eviction because the council said that were in serious arrears with their rent, I told them to trust God that he would sort things out and that a solution would be found, they went and spoke to the council and it was found that the council had made a mistake and that they were not in arrears and they were not going to be evicted.

Thank you God that you listen to our prayers and you give us all we need, I know some times you put us through tough times, but it is in these tough times that we can grow closer to you, and put our faith in you that even in these tough times you are working on a greater good.

A couple of my favourite verses are

James 1:2-3 NIV

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

Jeremiah 29:11-12 NIV

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord , “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

Ripples

Have you ever stood at the waters edge and thrown in a stones and watched the ripples spread out, sometimes the smallest of stones can have a dramatic effect and cause loads of ripples.

The same thing can be said for our daily lives, the smallest of actions can have the greatest of impacts that ripple though our lives and the lives of those around us.

A couple of years ago I was doing the rounds of my local charity shops trying to find any cheap bibles (I buy them and then pass them on to people who don't have a bible), and whilst i was in my local Oxfam shop a lady and her son came in looking for an old style King James bible, a few weeks earlier i had picked up a stack of bibles cheap and amongst them was an old King James bible, I listened as the lady asked the person behind the till if they had anything suitable and explain that she had been everywhere looking for a suitable one for a christening present, the person said "sorry all the bibles we have are on the shelf, and there doesn't look like there are any suitable." She look so sad and said that she would have to try in Cambridge and most probably end up paying a fortune for one.

It was at that point i remembered the bible i had brought a few weeks earlier, I said to the lady "excuse me, I may have something like what you are looking for, meet me outside poundland in about 30 mins." She looked at me like i was some crazy person, her son who was with her persuaded her to meet me.

I biked home as quick as i could and hunted out the old King James bible i had brought and made my way back into town, by the time i got back into town she was just about to walk off, I called her back and showed her the bible i had in my bag.

Her face lit up, and tears welled in her eyes, she said "that is the exact bible I am looking for, if you had took a picture of what was in my mind you are holding it in your hands right now, she asked me what i wanted for it and I said "you can have it, I don't want anything for it."

At that point the tears really started to flow down her face (and few welled up in my eyes  as well), she explained that she wasn't religious and didn't really believe in all this stuff but she said that she was getting so desperate that she had said a little prayer of sorts and that within a few minutes i had said that i had a bible that might be suitable, she asked me if I was an angel I just smiled and said no i just like to pass on God's word to people as it's the best gift that you can pass on to someone.

She still couldn't get her head round how a complete stranger could do something like this and how he little prayer could be answered so quickly, I said to her because it was a prayer from the heart God heard it and answered her.

She took the bible and insisted that i took something for it, so I told her i would give the money to my church and that i would pray for her, she walked off with her son and i could hear her still saying to him "I don't understand, I don't really believe in all this kind of stuff and yet this happened." Her son looked at her and said "well maybe it's like that guy said"

The next few weeks i could not get the lady out of my mind and continued to pray for her that the christening went well and that she might come to know God more.

A few weeks later and I was doing the rounds of the charity shops again and went into Oxfam looking for more bibles, when a voice came from behind the till "excuse me, but aren't you the guy who gave my mum a bible for a christening?" I looked, it was the ladies son. I said "yes, how did things go?"

He explained that in the few weeks following what i had done, that his mum had started to ask questions about faith, Jesus and God, and eventually started going to church. I was so happy, but there was more he explained that whilst in church she decided to come to faith, and that a major part in her decision was what i had done with the bible that day.

I was so happy to think that from what i thought was a small action, that the lady had come to know God and come to faith, it was like I said at the start the smallest of stones can make the largest of ripples.

After it was a stone being rolled away several thousand years ago that had a pretty major effect on the world.

When Jesus suffered and died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, it was this act of love that changed the world, I ask today that you pray and ask God for chances to throw your stones in the water and see what ripples spread out in the world around you.

WOW WHAT A WEEK

Well this has certainly been an interesting week.

It's been really busy at work this week (I work at Game) what with the kids going back to school and gearing up for the first big release of the year (destiny), I've been given full time hours which is great.

But the BIG announcements this work on a more personal note is that my fiancee has brought her wedding dress!!!!

There is still no confirmed date as to when we are getting married, we have set a rough date as the summer of 2016, the other big announcement is that on 29th September i am starting a a preachers course with East Anglian Preaching Academy, this was a big prayer point as money has been very short up til now, but my church (West Road Church) have said they are willing to help fund the course.

So as you can see I have had an exciting week so far, I am continuing to pray and rely on God to get me through the next few days at work leading up to a the midnight opening on Monday night for destiny, but i Know that God will be there with me through it all and when i get home from work i will have my loving fiancee there to give me a hug.

I hope and pray that your weeks is going well and God is with you all.

More updates coming soon so watch this space.

:-) Man1cMonkey :-)