Psalm 86:15
But you, O God, are both tender and kind,
not easily angered, immense in love,
and you never, never quit.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
Today, our little great-niece Zola celebrated her second birthday. My husband and I took gifts to her this morning and spent some time playing with all three children… Timothy, Zola and Nathan… and visiting with their mom. One of Zola’s gifts was a new shirt that says “Little Sister” and a ruffled skirt to match. Zola promptly had her mom help her change shirts so that she could wear the new one… but she didn’t really think about the skirt for another twenty minutes or so. When she rediscovered it, she decided to put it on… over the shorts she was already wearing!
We all watched as she struggled… first taking off her shoes… then trying to put the skirt on upside down… then turning it over in the right direction and pushing her feet through the bloomers that were attached. Then she tried to stand up! Finally, Zola was able to stand to her feet, but she could not get the skirt pulled up completely over the other pair of shorts she was wearing. But she never quit. She kept trying until they were fairly well in place… and her mother helped her get them fixed the rest of the way.
I have mixed emotions as I watch these little ones do things for themselves. I love them so much I can’t explain it. I want so badly to jump in and help…to do things for them…to give them that little boost they need to get over the hump. And sometimes, when I am frustrated with their frustration… or they won’t stop crying and take their nap… or it’s “one of those days” and they have multiple meltdowns… I want to throw up my hands and walk away. It would be so easy to call their mom and say, “Here… you can have them back! I’ll let you deal with this! Call me when they are 25!” But I keep trying to soothe ruffled feelings… I keep rocking a crying baby and hoping he/she will settle down and drift off to a peaceful slumber. I wait and watch and marvel at how they figure out things and grow and learn – even from their mistakes.
God does the same thing with us… on a far grander scale. He must be so tempted to walk away and give up on us… probably many times each day! He must be terribly frustrated as He watches us fumble and bumble our way through life. It must be all He can do not to simply do things for us and make everything right when we are confused or struggling. I can’t imagine how hard it must be for Him to watch us falter and fail… knowing we need to learn from our mistakes – but hurting for us all the same. But God never quits. He never stops loving us… never turns His back and walks away. We test His patience and try his resolve… we insult Him, disrespect Him, and cause His heart to break… and still He offers us love, kindness, and tender mercy.
I wonder… do we really stop to consider how patient God is with us? Do we use His example as a model for how we treat our own children, friends, family members, and acquaintances? Do we offer the same tender kindness and love to others that God extends to us? Do we see that we are often God’s two-year-old trying to put on a skirt over our shorts?
Every single one of us has moments of frustration and impatience. And each of us has the perfect example of what to do in these situations… and what not to do! Stop and consider God’s longsuffering patience, love, kindness and mercy toward you. Thank Him for being so enduring and tolerant… for His tenderness and understanding. Learn from His rhythms and offer hefty doses of these traits to everyone you encounter. God will never, ever quit caring about you… pursuing you… nurturing you. What will you learn from Him? Will others see these qualities in you? Shouldn’t they?
©2013 Debbie Robus
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