a devotion

Roman 8:22-25
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>How long is waiting? How long do we have to be patient? I guess it depends on the thing we are waiting for. After a while we become tired of waiting though; ready to get this over with, or on the verge of giving up. But we are told that in our moments of weakness and tiredness of waiting, the Spirit is there, right along side us. If we don’t know what to say or pray about, if we become so frustrated that we can’t express anything, or we just can’t find those words we need to exclaim our thoughts with, it’s ok. He’s there beside us praying. Praying what needs to be said, praying what is at the bottom of our hearts. He knows us, our condition that we’re in, and knows how to help us, make us feel better.

>We want to please Him, and to make him proud. Just like my parents Dottie & Charlie. I know they love me for who I am. They may not be my biological parents, but I know they love me. They took time to discipline me when I misbehaved, loved me when I felt sad, congratulated me when I did something well, and were pound when I finished something big.

Making a mistake can be challenging, b/c how do we make sure not to make the same mistake again. It could the be feelings of shame that I’m afraid of, putting shame to my parent’s name, putting shame to God’s name, shaming my friends, shaming myself. It’s difficult to explain this. I’m still finding words, ideas, and theories to explain or express what I’m going through and thinking about. We are asked to love them, just the same. But in my case this topic or skill that I’m talking about is patience. We live here, our life isn’t pointless but we live here (now), and we are told to love our parents, friends, enemies, and the homeless. And even the pedophiles, the murderers, the abusive spouses, and many, many other things that aren’t comforting to think about. But these situations take patience; I don’t know if I have the patience for them….I’m not sure that I have the patience. I understand the patience that is needed, but I still need to work on the little things like: being patient when I’m wanting to be somewhere on time and we’re late, or if I want to be early and someone else doesn’t, that’s something I need to work.

When we love the person no matter what! We aren’t shaming anyone. It’s uncomfortable to do this. How do I love someone who beat me when I was little? How I love someone who beats a woman b/c she’s there. How do I love myself, when I do not love others? I mess up. I’m far from perfect. I’m still growing and learning. I might be able to go back and love the people who I didn’t love earlier.

It’s funny, I’m told that we’re going to mess us at times, it’s inevitable. We aren’t going straight to Hell b/c we did something wrong. If we were, then he wouldn’t ALSO be the God of mercy. I also see it’s in our nature to mess up, it’s not an excuse to mess up, but I need to not get so frustrated when I mess up at the smaller things.

He, God, is like a parent that knows what we’re going through. He understands the pain, the sorrow, and the thoughts that are provoked by experiences. He’s that hug that we need on those hard days; that pat on the back that we want when we accomplish something. He’ll discipline us when we misbehave, and love us when we’re sad. He’ll love us no matter what. It’s at this thought that it clicked, that we are created in God’s image. My parents tell me when I mess up, and I feel ashamed, “No matter what you do Richard, you can’t make us stop loving you. We love you more than anything in the word.” And that’s how God feels towards us. Hesed is a Hebrew word for loving-kindness. (he consistent, ever-faithful, relentless, constantly-pursuing, lavish, extravagant, unrestrained, furious love! God’s love toward all of us is ever-faithful, like my parents love for me is ever-faithful.