HomeKeeper's Journal - September 21

I came across this idea today while randomly surfing the internet doing important research and loved it immediately, so I'm joining in.  Each Tuesday, The HomeKeeper’s Journal is led by Sylvia at Christian HomeKeeper.  She provides the prompts and happy bloggers link to her site after filling in the prompts on their own sites.  Here's today's entry, with the journal prompts in blue.
This week’s Homekeeper’s Journal is all about Long-suffering ….

In the Bible there are two words that are used in the New Testament which talk about Patience.  There is, of course, patience. And then there is Long-suffering. We don’t like that word much because our very nature seems to be repulsed by it… Long-suffering.


Suffering … Long.
Suffering a lonnnnnnng time.

But it isn’t just any kind of suffering Long-suffering is talking about. Patience is what we seek when we have a trying situation to go through. Long-Suffering is what we need when we are dealing with people.  Long-suffering means that we have patience with people.  God expects that we will have difficult people in our lives and He knows that it will sometimes be painful. So He calls us to suffer a long time with people, be patient with them, while He is working out His plan in our lives and in their lives.

How can we refuse to be Long-suffering with others when we know how long God has suffered with our own foolishness?

God has worked in my life regarding patience and long-suffering in these ways:  Will I get in trouble if I mention my husband here?  Hmm, let's talk about my kids, that's safer.  I have such good kids, but they both seem gifted with with strong personalities, particularly Ava.  She challenges me every day and frankly I get tired of it.  I'm the mama, that's why!  Reminding myself that she is a child and needs to be taught, led, and loved rather than scolded and shamed, and finding that place inside to let go of the frustration (and sometimes hurt) . . . that is where the rubber meets the road for me right now.

The hardest part of showing long-suffering is . . . letting go of my need to be compensated for my trials.  If that sounds weird, this is what I mean: my daughter can totally losing her cool -  yelling and generally making life difficult for everyone.  After she gets under control and we work through consequences and reconciliation, I am often still stinking mad about it.  Time and energy been wasted, people may or may not have been injured, and certainly my eardrums are weary . . . and now I have to be nice to her??  That's when I have to decide that we really are done with it, and move forward in love, not resentment.  UGH!!  (This letting-go thing is another that might be applicable if I were talking about my husband, which of course I decided not to.)

The most rewarding part of showing long-suffering is . . . being able to show real love to someone who really needs it, or someone who may not expect it.  I know how it feels to be on the receiving end of grace, when I am being obnoxious (which rarely happens), and another person decides to be loving and patient (my husband!!), so I am thoroughly blessed when I am the one who can extend that to another person.

The one kind situation that I have the most trouble showing long-suffering in is . . .  Umm, all of them?  I rarely feel successful when it comes to being patient.  You could say my paint is extremely wet in this area.

I see how kindness goes hand in hand with long-suffering because . . . it's really hard to be impatient while being kind.  Deliberate kindness replaces irritation and gives back to the giver the same way a laugh does. 

I want others to show long-suffering to me when . . .ooo, talk about a personal question.  I hope for long-suffering when I get stressed out and miss the forest for the trees.

God shows long-suffering to me in these ways . . .  He wraps me up in love at times I would be tempted to scold.  He draws me near when I get wrapped up pursing my own unimportant details.  He is gentle when I find I have been running down the wrong path.  He never leaves.

Ephesians 4:1-4 says . . . Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love.  Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.  

This week I will begin to ask God to . . . Let me not grow weary in pursuing the discipline of long-suffering.  I suspect this will be my thorn for many more years, and I must not give up nor give in to a spirit of defeat.  As the verse says, His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-24).