The Pleasure and Patience of Agony

5^th of the Last 7

This year the Lord is teaching me patience on a new level. I am beginning to wonder if we must learn patience before we learn the pleasure of whatever God truly has in store for our next move in life. This would also involve the blessings of progress and personal growth in attaining that patience. Perhaps the longer the wait, the more agony we may experience, and therefore the greater the reward will be because with each passing moment we learn more patience, gaining a higher threshold each time. Hence there is pleasure in the agony of patience to the finish line. I am running my third and final race tomorrow in this twenty-one day challenge. I had a race each weekend of the twenty-one day Highlands challenge. At the finality of this weekend, I am learning that we may not be here tomorrow. The twenty-one day fast is not necessarily about the due diligence of drinking water living like Jesus in a desert for forty days and nights. I think it about lessons to take on as new seasons arrive for a new year. I have not been perfect in writing, running, and The Big Three each day, but I have made great strides! I am learning that goals take a moment by moment, step by step approach, moving forward. I often want to run the half-marathon today without training for the 5K first. Life does not work that way. We must work our way up through growing pains in agony, learning patience, to thus attain the pleasure in the reward of waiting for whatever God has waiting for us in the first place. Perhaps this is the twenty-one day lesson for me to walk forward with! I know most of us in our spiritual journey can relate to this process….we are after all humans who believe in the strength of the One who is Perfect. This process as a result gives us the strength in the patience that we need and perhaps even begin to want at the right moment in the right time. Celebrate with me in the agony we can experience together!