The virtue
of patience can only be experienced in the period of waiting. How will you ever become patient if you are
never given the opportunity to wait?
Our Lord is
the giver of holy patience. Patience is
not a gift that we beg God to give us.
Most of our prayers are about ending the period of waiting we are
currently living. Only the Giver of Life
values the gift of patience, and He does not wait for us to ask to
receive.
Advent is a
season of exploring the virtue of patience.
It is a brief exercise in recognizing the holy goodness of the
wait. In Advent we are forced to wait
four Sundays before we arrive at the joy of Christmas. The gift of Advent is that when we allow our
souls to sink deeply into the joy of waiting, Christmas becomes more
fulfilling. We don’t have to face the
reality that a perfect Christmas morning is not created by all the frills,
smells and presents that world insists will make us happy. Rather the meaning of Christmas is the
fulfillment of what our souls most need—a Savior—and the promise that He will
return as surely as He came the first time, after the nation of Israel’s long
wait.
James 5:7
says: Be
patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the
farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the
autumn and spring rains. Acceptance
is the key to waiting with patience.
Just as a farmer waits on the seasons he knows will come before the
valuable crop, so we wait through the seasons of Advent knowing that Jesus came
the first time as a babe and will return as the Savior of the world.
Advent
has much to teach about holy patience.
We must be patient with ourselves.
It feels impossible to tend to our souls in the midst of the pressures
piled up because of Christmas. We are
forced to learn patience with the increased crowds of people who flood into the
roads and shopping centers in an effort to make Christmas what they are told it
should be. We are drawn to share the
experience of Christmas with family members in intimate settings that often
challenge our patience in accepting the differences between family members.
Let’s
plant the seeds of waiting at Advent together by tending to our souls through
prayer and meditation. I believe it will
lead to a blessed, holy patience with yourself, others and God. The lesson of holy patience can serve you
throughout the new year.
Copyright © 2015. Deborah R Newman teatimeforyoursoul.com All Rights Reserved.
Tea Time for Your Soul Daily Devotions for Advent available
now on Kindle Direct:
Soul
Transformation through Advent: Devotions for Advent through Epiphany
Nov 22, 2015
by Dr. Deborah Newman
Kindle Edition
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