This is a story for all of you who think that I, as your Kinship Radio blog-writer, am just a little bit holier than you. This is a story for everyone who read that headline and are preparing themselves for some great, deep, amazing spiritual insight by a guy who has an inside edge, an exclusive ear, to God’s inner-most thoughts and revelations.
Ready?
Okay, so last week at work I was having one of those days when I was up to my Adam’s Apple in paperwork, the phone would not stop ringing, I was subjected to numerous questions I had already answered and could have been answered by the person asking the question if only they would open up the smallest can of Common Sense available, one of my co-workers walked into my office and flopped yet another form for me to fill out with the usual mandatory useless and unnecessary information, there were actual people standing in line outside my office waiting to talk to me, and then the phone had the unmitigated audacity to ring one more time!
I grabbed the phone and almost shouted, “Hello, this is Dan…” without adding the actual words “…and what kind of annoying problem do YOU have today?!?!” but almost certainly imparted that message with my tone of voice.
And the voice on the other end of the phone said, “Hello, this is Patience.”
I swallowed hard.
“Patience. Your actual name is Patience.”
“Yes, I was wondering if…”
And the eyes of my heart looked up to heaven and a small, humbled voice inside of me said, “Okay, God. I got it. Message received.”
Normally, this is where you would expect me to copy and paste one of those verses about love and mercy and grace and compassion and being called to be holy as He is Holy, but I’m not going to do that. The first thought in my mind is to post Paul’s wretched man lament. (See Romans 7:7-25) Actually, right now I feel like buying a wretched man T-shirt. (Yes, you can buy pretty much anything you can think of on the internet.)
But the second thought in my head is to praise God.
LORD, THANK YOU for sending your Holy Spirit to a lady whose actual name is Patience to call me at the exact moment I needed that message from you.
THANK YOU, LORD, for answering that prayer I pray every day to be the man you want me to be, that you designed me to be long before you even spoke the whole universe into being.
THANK YOU, for being subtle and kind when I need it and being so overwhelmingly obvious I can’t ignore it when you absolutely know nothing else would have worked at that time, in that circumstance. ( See Numbers 22:21-41.)
THANK YOU, that you have not given up on me, that you continue to teach me even when it hurts, even when it’s hard, even when it involves things like patience and humility that I would learn to serve you and the people you love just a little bit better each day.
AMEN and HALLELUJAH!
Today’s Praise
Thank you, LORD, that Romans 8:1 immediately follows Paul’s wretched man lament:
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. (NLT)