Hello Heartbeats! This week we’re talking about longsuffering. Longsuffering or patience, probably the fruit that no one wants to go through or perfect. No one wants to suffer long. Believe me, I get it. Well Heartbeats, I’m challenging you to change how you view longsuffering. Instead of counting the days, weeks, months, and sometimes years that you had to endure. How about looking at it as God is preparing you and He won’t release you until you are ripe, ready to go…able to handle everything. Think about it. A mother carries a child nine months before the bundle of joy arrives. A diamond goes through a process before we see the brilliance of its beauty. Even some of the fruit and vegetables we eat are seasonal. It takes time to receive something good. Children born early aren’t fully matured. Diamonds sold before the process is complete have no clarity, no brilliance, and no shine. And fruit and vegetables eaten before they are ripe…just nasty. You see where I’m going with this. Everything good takes time. You think you’re in a holding block. But God is just getting you ready. He’s dusting you off, smoothing out all the edges, and polishing you up so He can present YOU at your best. James 1:3-4 says, “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” When we allow God to be God, we come out perfect, full of faith and strengthened even the more to believe in Him. So no more negative thoughts on longsuffering/patience for you. You’re just waiting to be presented at YOUR best! Confess: God wants me whole and I’m getting whole by the minute! Next week, the fruit of gentleness.
