Mike and I love to sleep with a noisemaker on. We turn white noise up as loud as it will go. We have done that for years and take it with us when we are out of town. Most of the time when people talk about a bad storm at night we do not know about it. And thankfully, our dog, Duke, doesn't either! We sleep, peacefully, in the midst of the storms.
I thought about this when I saw the saying, "the peace of God doesn't calm the storm but the peace of God calms us." Just like when we miss the storm because of the noise maker - in life, we can miss the storm because of the peace of God. There have been many "storms" in 2020 that I would have liked to have slept through. I take so much and then, finally, I turn to God. When I finally realize I cannot control any of it I turn to the One Who can! Then I get to have peace, His peace. Philippians 4: 7, "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
I think we have all had to work on patience this year! Patience is walking in faith while knowing God is going to do His thing in His time. That is so hard! But then I think about how patient God is. Think of how patient He has been in your life! Times that times all of us and He is PATIENT! 2 Peter 3: 9, "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."
God is Patient! His Word tells us that “God is love.” 1 John 4: 16, "...God is love..." We are told God is patient. 1 Corinthians 13: 4, "Love is patient..." Of course He is patient with us. He is purifying us during the storms of life. When Moses went up to Mount Sinai, the Lord descended in a cloud and proclaimed Exodus 34: 6. "Then he passed in front of Moses and called out, 'I am the Lord God. I am merciful and very patient with my people. I show great love, and I can be trusted.'" CEV In the NIV translation they use "slow to anger" for patience and thee KJV uses "longsuffering." I take it to mean, God waits a very long time on us before He gets angry! He isn't patient with us because we deserve it, He is patient with us because that is Who He is!
God's patience is necessary for our salvation. 2 Peter 3: 15, "Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him." Paul reminds us that even though he was one of the "worst of sinners”, he was shown mercy, so that “Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.” 1 Timothy 1: 16, "But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life."
There will always be storms in this life. God will use them to bring us closer to Him. Malachi 3: 3, "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness..." He is teaching us and making us better. 1 Corinthians 5: 3-4, "Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." And through all of our learning, He will be patient with us. We should be thanking Him daily for His patience with us. And if we believe God's Word then we can have peace, His perfect peace, during the storms. Let God's Word calm us during the storm!
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