The Good Lord knows I'm not a patient person.
And because He knows this, there is no shortage of opportunities to exercise my patience muscle!
Yesterday morning Facebook reminded me of something from 10 years ago, yet I know that 10 years ago I did not realize the full extent of this truth...
"When it's God's time to bring something into our lives,
He will often do it after He's prepared us to receive it."
Wow.
And impatient Magriet has to close her Planner for the time being.
Because there were five places in which that muscle of mine would get stretched in the 10 years up to now.
1.
"God may withhold an overflow of finances
until He has taught us how to give.”
Whether it was Pa Jan's own cleverness or whether it came from another source, I don't know, but he would say enough times that it was stored in the back of my mind, that you should give when you cannot, because when you can, then you may not want to.
I guess it would be like when the long-awaited downpour comes before the dam is ready for it.
From the engineering archives of my much younger brain, I remember the very specific design of a reservoir where the walls would be cast, and then the roof of the dam would be built on the floor. To get the roof where it actually belonged, water would then be let in at a snail's pace, allowing the roof to float until it was at the perfect height where a gentle nudge in the right direction could make it turn to fit precisely into the groove that were specially intended for it.
Too much water, too fast, and that roof would slide over the top of the walls and never do the job it was intended to do.
Some people learn from childhood that giving is a good thing, and their tests come quickly and so do their distinctions. They are the masters of giving.
They understand that what they have is only borrowed.
They understand that what people can take away from them cannot make them poorer.
They understand that good things left unshared can quickly rot.
Others learn more slowly.
Their impatience leads to hasty decisions and in the end the trek through the desert is much longer than initially planned.
If I can't give while I only have a little,
I will have just a little
until I can learn to give.
And when I learn to give,
I will always have a little more
to share from.
Money.
Things.
But also love,
peace,
forgiveness.
The factor of multiplication is always more than 1.
The story is always about more than just me.
“Take hold of instruction; [actively seek it, grasp it firmly and] don't let go.
Guard her, for she is your life.”
Proverbs 4:13 AMP
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