Patience

I am sure many of us can remember those days as a child when summer vacation was approaching, when Christmas was right around the corner and the days to our birthdays drew nearer and nearer.   For some reason, kids don’t need a calendar to be reminded that their birthday is approaching--they somehow sense it and with each passing day their anticipation builds.  Preparation for their birthday begins to preoccupy their every thought.  What should the theme be?  Who will be invited? What flavor cake will be have?   Should we have ice cream too? Will it be an overnight party?  What presents will I get?  Our kids become impatient with preparing for their big day.  They just can’t wait to see what’s inside those wrapped presents, to eat that awesome cake and have fun with all their friends who attend the party.

As adults I am not sure many of us are much better at being patient than our kids.  While it may not be our birthdays we become preoccupied with, maybe it is our upcoming vacation or the announcement of that next big bonus at work.  Having patience is hard.  None of us wants to wait until later for anything.  We crave instant satisfaction.

All month long in children’s worship we are going to unpack the idea of patience and what it means to reflect the character of God. We will not only look at how patience affects the kind of decisions we make, but also at how patience plays into the way we treat other people.  We are going to define patience as, waiting until later for what you want now.  In other words, we are going to try to help children learn the value of delayed gratification and realize that the God who is patient with them is in the process of developing this same characteristic in their lives. 

Patience is kind of like making old-fashioned homemade ice cream.  Think about all the effort that goes into making this delicious treat.  You start with all the ingredients—the milk, eggs, vanilla and the ice.  All the ingredients go together into a container and the lid is put on….and, then, the waiting begins.  You just have to sit there while the ingredients mix together and, with time, become the wonderful sweet frozen treat we all love.  You can’t rush the process.  You can’t just open up the container when you are ready.  No, you have to wait until the ingredients become mixed and frozen to create the final product.  You can’t hurry it along.  No matter how impatient you are the ice cream will not be ready until it is time to be ready.

You have to be patient to wait on the end result.  We all know in the end it will be worth the wait.  But we have to be patient.  God seems to prove his patience as we learn more about the world he created.  We can’t rush the changing of the seasons, the growing of a tree or the development of character that is being nurtured in our kids.  We can try to rush these things but ultimately we only become frustrated by our own lack of patience as God’s world grows and works in His time.

Join us this month as we see the value of God’s idea of patience. Pray that God would help us as we patiently become the people He wants us to be.