“Because of their faith and patience.”
Hebrews 6:12
From my Journal 2005
I glanced at the wall clock as I left work and made a
mental note when I was due to clock back in—60 minutes and each second was
precious—for I was visiting my young boys over my lunch hour. My mind raced with thoughts of work left
unfinished, impatient for the light to switch to green. When the moments in my life that I took for
granted became a limited-edition feature, the value I placed on them
skyrocketed. The 365 days a year that I
would see my boys became 100, and all at once I felt time with them ticking
away like a stopwatch held on a long distance runner. I felt the finish line pressing closer even
though the dates of my sons' emancipation did not change.
I arrived with
53 precious minutes remaining—thank God I landed this job just seven minutes
from home or had He prearranged this?
“Daaadyyy!” came the gleeful cry
of my two-year-old super-hero. I was
prepared for the leap into the air as I knelt with arms open wide to catch
him.
“Gotcha!” I clung to him as he
did to me as if it was our last embrace, and his smile that beamed from ear to
ear could break the coldest of hearts.
He then ran after a ball in the yard, and I found myself chasing after
him—gone were the thoughts of unfinished work and deadlines. I caught up with him, scooped him in my arms
and tumbled softly to the ground, cushioning him as I rolled over on the
turf. His squeals of laughter brought
cries to my heart as tears swelled in my eyes.
Where had I been all the years of
his and my other children’s childhood and youth? The thought was a loud lament of days
gone by—whether in a fog or with work competing for mental and emotional space
during moments of family time.
As I laid on my
back with my arms extended, my son raised above me, his legs kicking and arms
waving, “I can fly, Daddy,” he proclaimed happily, “Look, I can fly!” I realized then the Fruit of the Spirit - Patience, my son was doing what he did best—appreciating
the moment he was in.
Driving back to
work—my lunch break with my sons over—was painful. Leaving meant separation—a significant time
until our next encounter—rather than just a stopping point of our fun together,
not allowed to resume once my workday was over.
I reflected on the scene of our play—me, wrestling with my son on the grass
while wearing my professional dress clothes.
I would have never conceived my doing that—until now. God revealed—opened my eyes, softened my heart—what
He means by bearing the Fruit of the Spirit - Patience. I appreciate every moment God graciously
gives me for what He intends it to be, rather than what I want it to
be. While I waited at the stoplight, I
realized that the moment was not about the delay; but rather, it was a time to
reflect on the joy I had played with my son.
At that moment,
I was flying high on the Spirit Airline—experiencing the Fruit of the Spirit - Patience
and appreciating the moment I was in.
We are confident that you are
meant for better things, things that come with salvation. For God is not unfair. He will not forget how hard you have worked
for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other Christians,
as you still do. Our great desire is
that you will keep right on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to
make certain that what you hope for will come true. Then you will not become spiritually dull and
indifferent. Instead, you will follow
the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their
faith and patience.1
Next: The Spirit Airline: Empty Yet
Full…”Clothe yourselves with kindness.”
Praise to Our Father for the words He has given me ~
Jeff Cambridge
Copyright © 2004, 2005, 2016 Stellar Rhema Ministry,
Jeff Cambridge
References
All
Scripture quotations unless otherwise noted are from the Holy Bible, New
Living Translation, copyright © 1996.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois
60189. All rights reserved.
1.
Hebrews 6:9-12
No comments:
Post a Comment