Everything In Its Own Time

13 Jun

“Think in the morning.  Act in the noon.  Eat in the evening.  Sleep in the night.”
~
William Blake

There is an eternal truth that so many people fail to grasp in their lives:  there is a rhythm to life, an ebb and flow that needs to be embraced in order for one to find inner peace.  If we fight against it, if we try to rush it, if we try to go around it, we will find ourselves in a state of discontent. In the Book of Ecclesiastes, we read “to everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.”

As I said, the problem is that we are not privy to the reasons for the seasons in our lives.  We do not like to be without knowledge or without control over our lives.  We like to be able to have everything planned so that we can execute everything flawlessly.  But life is not flawless.  It appears to be full of random events.

Patience.  That is the word of the day.  Patience will help us to accept that things are out of our control.  Patience will help us to let go of our need to take charge.  Patience will help us to accept what God has in store for us and to allow His will to come about in our lives.

Patience is a virtue and one that is not often requested of God nor exercised by us.  I know this for a fact because it is something that I often lack as well, especially when it comes to myself.  That is also something that most people have in common.  We lack patience with ourselves.  We expect ourselves to know everything, to be able to do everything, to recover from any mistake quickly, and to be all things for all people.

That implies perfection, something that we all lack.  The only perfect being is God Himself.  All we can do is strive for perfection.  We are not there yet and will not be perfected until we enter His Kingdom.

Until then, it’s okay to attempt to be perfect.  But at the same time, we need to be able to have patience with ourselves and cut ourselves slack when necessary.

FAITH ACTION:  Ask God for the patience that you may need to allow His plans for you to unfold at their own pace.