Patience

*I know, two blog posts in a row. I'm on a roll!

I'm taking my students through the book of Genesis right now. I could write a whole book on how excited I am to be in Genesis and the lessons learned through it.

But, a book would equal time that I simply don't have right now. As it is, I'm currently blogging this while shoveling mixed vegetables and quinoa into Asher's mouth and explaining to the other boys that yes, Daddy is getting them food so please stop stealing Cheerios off of the baby's high chair tray.

Anyways, I digress.

The book of Genesis holds such wonder to me as I rediscover all of the amazing things about God and His character revealed to mankind. How amazing He is, how deeply He loves His creation, and how if we would just BE and TRUST things would go a bit better on our end.

Right now, we are in the midst of the life of Abraham (well, he is still Abram right now, but...).

There is a theme that keeps coming out and smacking me in the face (I love/hate when that happens).

The theme is trust. Do I trust Him? Even when all evidence in my life points to abandonment and being alone, do I trust?

In a perfect world, I would say, "Of course I do! A men, forever and ever."

In my world, I say, "Ummmm...yes?"

Here's the thing. I need to be patient. I need to trust that God is a God who does what He says He is going to do. Every single promise made to Abraham came true. It just took awhile.

Abraham was 75 when he was called out of his land with his 65 year old barren wife. He was promised land and children that numbered the stars in the sky and the sand on the ground.

It sounds like a cruel joke.

Of course, Abraham wasn't perfect. He lied about Sarah being only his sister (yes, she was his half sister, but he omitted the part where she was also his wife...). He took matters into his own hands Hagar and Ishmael. He questioned God's plan and His ways. And yet, at the end of it all, we see that he trusted God.

How I long to be more like Abraham (except for the whole marrying my half sibling and having a concubine thing). I just need patience.

There's a catch though. I live in an instant gratification world. If I need to get someone a message I can email them, call them, text them or Facebook them. Then, if I don't hear back within 10 minutes I wonder if I'm being ignored. (You know you all too, don't judge!) If I want to see video I no longer have to wait for it to be shown on t.v. or hope that I find a friend who owns it. I can simply YouTube it, or Netflix it, or RedBox it (etc.). If I want to eat something, I don't have to cook, I can drive thru. Heck, I can even get a message to London and get a response within the day (depending on the time of day) if I want.

To say that this hasn't affected my relationship and expectations from God would be a lie.

I pray and I want an answer or a resolution RIGHT THIS SECOND.

I want to see how it's all going to work out. I want to know that everything is going to be okay.

I try to force God's hand. I try to cram Him into a box and into my own expectations, even though I know that He works amazingly in ways that I could never imagine (and His way is always SO MUCH BETTER than I could hope).

I have numerous examples, but this blog post is already so long.

And so, as I continue to walk my students through Genesis, I will continue to take these nuggets of truth for myself as well. I will remind myself to have patience and trust.