Mercy

Patience

/ brianhilton9 / 1 Comment

Every spring, the naked trees that endured winter’s blusters clothe themselves in a spectacular array of colors and fragrances. It’s as if they are preparing for a special occasion, taking extra measures to exhibit their beauty.

One of the earliest arrivals to the spring banquet is the Magnolia tree. Her pinkish white petals and bright yellow carpels seem to signal to the rest of the trees that it is indeed time once again to blossom.

I’ve long adored the large Magnolia that stands outside the front of our house. As a young kid, I would climb it and hang on its branches. As I’ve grown older, I find myself admiring the beauty of its presence in the springtime and all that means.

Spring is my favorite season. When I see that Magnolia in the front bloom, I know that warm weather, sunshine, and rounds of golf are right around the corner. I’ve come to notice over the past several years however, that in terms of Magnolias, ours seems to be a late bloomer.

Along our road are several homes with Magnolias that bloom at least a week or even two before ours. Could they be a different type of Magnolia?  Sure. I’m no arborist! But in this discrepancy, I find myself awaiting the buds’ transformation into flowers with a frustrated sense of urgency. In something so seemingly inconsequential, I quickly grow impatient, and the once eloquent banquet scene is ruined by an unruly rush of the moment.

Sound ridiculous? I’m not actually staring out the window angry because the tree didn’t bloom fast enough, but I might as well be when I examine other areas of my life.

Take driving. I’m not sure of many things I dislike more than driving behind someone going less than the speed limit. It infuriates me. I start to tap the steering wheel. I huff and puff. I consider passing even though I know it’s a stupid idea. One day after this began happening more frequently, I began to think, “why do people around here drive so slow?!” Then, like a smack in the face, a thought popped into my mind.

“Why do you drive so fast?”

I began to thank God that I was getting stuck behind “slow” drivers after that. I still don’t enjoy going less than the speed limit, but these scenarios have elevated a desire in my heart that is so much more valuable than being able to do things quickly.

I used to understand patience as waiting. If I was having a good day, patience would be waiting with a positive attitude. If I was having a bad day, patience would be waiting angry that it wasn’t time yet. But most of the time, patience for me has been an enemy I try my best to defeat quickly and often.

I think that’s probably the case for most people. We’d rather not wait so we do everything we can, so we don’t have to. But perhaps you have come to see with me that impatience almost always produces negative results. It ruins good things. It actually capsizes the desire it claims to expedite delivery on.

For years I’ve been praying that God would make me a patient person. So much so, that I’ve grown quite impatient that I’m not as patient as I’d like to be yet. It’s kind of hilarious when you think about it. Growing impatient about having patience!

As I’ve searched God’s Word trying to learn what He says about patience, it often seems like the word is presented as an exhortation but seldom with a definition. But upon closer study, you’ll find that patience is defined much differently than simply waiting or trying not to reduce your wait time.

Most of the references to patience I see in scripture are describing the character of God. Take Peter’s words as an example.

“But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” – 2 Peter 3:8

This oft-quoted verse is remarkable. This statement is made during a reminder about the return of Jesus Christ to earth and the subsequent judgement of those who don’t know Him. We learn that God doesn’t see time in the same way that we do, sure. But more than that, we see that God is patient.

What does that mean? Patience is one thing for fallible human beings who can’t really control much of anything. But for the God of the universe for whom nothing is impossible? We see here that His patience is not merely waiting because He can’t do anything else. It’s part of His nature and a reflection of His love for the world that He’d rather delay His wrath on those who don’t know Him as much as possible so that they might come to repentance.

While He’s been mocked through the centuries by those who laugh at the idea of His existence, He’s waited patiently for them to receive His gift of salvation in Jesus Christ through faith.

The thing that’s so incredible to me about that is the fact that He never has to be patient. He is God. He can do as He pleases when He pleases. Yet He chooses in love to be patient with sinners, as He simultaneously adorns the finishing preparation touches for the true banquet awaiting the redeemed in Heaven.

Patience isn’t something that we can impatiently produce within ourselves. It’s something God works into our hearts as He brings forth the blossoming of His kingdom in its time. As He has been and is incredibly patient with us, then we can be patient with one another and even ourselves.

But much more than that, God’s patience is one of the avenues of His love towards us, culminating with salvation by offering up His Son as the atoning sacrifice for your sins and mine. Yet, patience is appointed for a time. We would be fools to mistake His patience for silence as many have done throughout the centuries. Just as those Magnolia buds pop every spring, so will Christ return. Those who have received His Son by faith will be “caught up in the air” with Him. Those who have rejected Him will fall into the His hands and face the judgement they once mocked.

Patience is something we all need. Sure, for the things in our lives that can drive us crazy, but more so, we need God to be patient with us. The good news is He has been! Listen to Paul’s words.

“But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.”  – 1 Timothy 1:16

No matter what you’ve done or where you are right now, God has been patient with you. Receive His Son Jesus by faith. Seek Him. Wait upon Him. The result is much more beautiful than any Magnolia tree.

Forgive

/ brianhilton9 / 1 Comment

In 2011, Belgian-born Australian songwriter Gotye released a single that would change his life forever. The song was first released in Australia and New Zealand, but eventually became a global hit. Soaring up national charts, Gotye’s song nestled atop the Billboard Hot 100 list before winning two Grammys. Today, the song has been purchased over 13 million times making it one of the best-selling digital singles of all time.

The popularity of this song is intriguing, yet all the more when you listen to the lyrics.

“But you didn’t have to cut me off

Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing

And I don’t even need your love

But you treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough

No, you didn’t have to stoop so low

Have your friends collect your records and then change your number

I guess that I don’t need that though

Now you’re just somebody that I used to know”

“Somebody That I Used to Know” is a song you likely have heard, even if you don’t realize it. It’s a catchy tune that has filled the radio airwaves ever since it’s genesis in 2011. Clearly, people like it, and while I acknowledge that you can like a song for the tune, I have a hard time believing that’s the only reason people hit the play arrow.

The clear, poignant words “now you’re just somebody that I used to know” perfectly describe the words that rest on the tip of our heart’s tongue when we’ve been wronged by another. I realize this is a break-up song, but the tempting sentiment remains the same across all broken relationships.

The temptation is to “ghost” that person. Tell yourself that they mean nothing to you – that they are merely someone you used to know.

The irony is that while you’re doing that, you can’t stop thinking about that person and their action. It is here where bitterness with all its decay begins to call your heart home.

It’s a losing game, but one at which we’re all superstars.

Everyone has been “screwed over” as the song puts it – or at least feels they’ve been at one time or another. Sometimes our grievances against others are justified and sometimes they aren’t. Either way, our urge in those moments isn’t exactly forgiveness.

Forgiveness is hard. Continually passing up an opportunity to seek retribution for an offense seems unjust. Cancelling that debt is loss.

I’m convinced that genuine, heartfelt forgiveness is impossible for us to hand out until we have received it ourselves. Chances are that most people reading this have never been in prison or, more specifically, on death row. I’d like you to try and imagine you are for a moment.

Sitting in your cell, torn apart by your crime, you cross off the days until execution. As the date nears, a guard knocks at your door. He tells you that you’re free to go. As a cocktail of emotions flow through you, you question simply, “why?” The guard tells you that your charges remain, but another has offered to step in and take the punishment your actions deserved.

This is an incomplete picture of what Jesus Christ has done for us, but I hope that it serves to place that reality in practical terms. You may know Him as the leader of the Christian religion, or perhaps as a really “good” historical figure, but it’s His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead three days later that allow us to forgive. For it is here where sinful man is offered their most desperate need – God’s forgiveness. Jesus is, in the most literal way, the substitute taking our place on death row.

Every one of us has rebelled against God. We don’t think there’s a problem with that separation until we experience a genuine taste of Godlessness. Yet it’s God’s righteous judgement that we were saved from when Jesus took his dying breath and cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It’s in that moment that we along with the death row inmate can say with tears, “why?”

Jesus dying on the cross is the greatest “I love you” ever spoken. His resurrection from the dead proved that justice was served and that what we had owed was paid in full.

When we see that we’ve been forgiven something infinitely greater than any wrongdoing we’ll receive on this earth, it makes real forgiveness possible. If our catastrophic sins are no longer held against us by God, how could there be any justification in holding something so comparatively insignificant against a fellow sinner?

I recognize and affirm that genuine forgiveness can occur without a reconciliation or an emotional desire. The relationship may end. But let it not be because you sought your own depraved method of justice. Let it be for the good of the other. Let it be with a heart free of bitterness, in light of the forgiveness you have received.

If you have not already considered that you need God’s forgiveness, please read Romans 3:22 & 23 below.  The greatest need of your offender is also your greatest need.

The temptation to say of someone “now you’re just somebody that I used to know” will always be appealing to our selfish hearts. Yet it is receiving God’s forgiveness and forgiving others that will set our hearts free.

Scripture References:

Romans 3:22-23 – “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

Colossians 3:13 – “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

Matthew 18:21-35 – Parable of the unmerciful servant

Matthew 6:12 – As Jesus instructed us to pray : “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

Matthew 6: 14-15 – “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

John 15:13 – “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”