Just the other day, my daughter, Chloe, shared with me something she had written during her devotion time and I thought I would share it with my readers as a guest post here on the blog.

It's such a blessing when your children learn things from the Word of God, without your prompting. It's exciting to see them grow in the Lord and search out the scriptures for themselves. 

3 John 1:4

 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

I have not edited her writing in any way, I wanted to share it exactly the way she had written it. I trust it will be an encouragement and blessing to you. 

Patience During Times of Testing

Patience is something none of us truly like, if we are being completely honest.

Everyday we are tested, we're stuck behind a tourist who forgot how to drive, there is a line out the door at the bank, the post office still hasn't received our parcel. Yes, I know these things can be very annoying, but have you ever tried to learn and grow in patience as you go through these things?

 I know that I find it hard to have patience in these kind of situations. Nobody likes to wait. Our natural response isn't to be happy and joyful that we get to wait, our natural response is to get angry and blame other people for being slow. So, you may be asking what is the point of all this? Well, God wants us to have patience. It is written so much in the Bible about having patience and growing from it.

Romans 5:3 

And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: 

knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

A lot of us struggle with different kinds of patience testings ( if that's even a thing). Some of us are happy to wait in line, while we are not so patient to have to work with someone we don't get along with. We all have strengths and weaknesses, but the question is how we overcome these times. 

Growing up, I always got impatient when I wanted to eat. I was hungry, or should I say I was hangry. I hated having to wait. So what did I do about it? With God's help I was able to overcome this silly impatience. It may  sound stupid, but even in the smallest situations like these, we can learn so much. I wasn't just learning how to wait to eat my food, I was also learning about consideration for others, waiting until they were ready. 

I also was learning how to wait for other things, whether it was the red stoplight, or the elderly couple crossing the road. It made it so much easier to wait when I was thinking of others, and their needs. Just like when God waits for us to come back to his word or when God waits for us to seek his will. God never gets impatient. He is long suffering. He is kind. He is loving. 

Psalms 103:8 

The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

Exodus 34:6 

And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,

Numbers 14:18a 

The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression....

Psalms 86:15 

But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious,

 longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.

So if we all had patience like God, this world would be a better place. This world has become so "instant" with everything, that nobody knows how to be patient anymore. It's sad to say but it's true. We don't realise it sometimes but it happens everywhere. "Fast" food places, "instant" noodles, "express" lanes in shopping centres. 

So what I'm trying to say is that if we live our lives with no patience, we will never see all the wonderful things God will do in our lives. His will is so much better then our rushed impatient plan. Whether we are waiting for marriage, children or even good health. God knows everything and he knows how every circumstance will turn out, so please trust me when I say it is worth it to practice patience. 

I've wanted to get married and have beautiful children ever since I was a teen, and it has been hard to have patience and wait, but I know that God has something very special for my life and I know that his will for me will be amazing, so it makes it easier to wait when I know something amazing will happen, when I let go, and let God.

Written by Chloe Holmes