Romans 12:12 (CEB)

12 Be happy in your hope, stand your ground when you’re in trouble, and devote yourselves to prayer.


Reflection

Today’s short but sweet text is sort of like a “stop, drop and roll” for impatience. Feeling impatient? Do these three steps:

  1. “Be happy in your hope” for a better day, for a better future then what you may be experiencing here and now today. It’s worth it even if we have to wait a little longer for it.
  2. “…stand your ground when you’re in trouble,” knowing that with God, you can get through it.
  3. “…and devote yourselves to prayer” for strength and guidance when we have to navigate the turbulent waters of impatience.

Simple! Well, except when we are feeling uncertain and impatient – turning to hope, let alone being happy in it, can seem like a monumental task. When we are in a tough spot, we can become quite fragile and it may cause us to doubt and waver in our foundation. When we are feeling the anxiety of not knowing what comes next or not getting what we want or need immediately, maybe it isn’t always our first reflex to pray.

Life will roller coaster up and down with times of being content and times of being impatient, times of great anxiety and times of great peace. It’s important for us to be building the tools on how to handle the tough times of waiting even when we aren’t in that spot, so that when we are, things like articulating hope, standing our ground and turning to pray are like second nature to us.

By Rachel Callender


For Pondering & Prayer

Of these three steps named, are any of them standing out to you? Maybe one that you’re really good at or really not so good at. What is your strongest step, and what is your weakest? What is one thing you can do today to strengthen the weakest step?

Prayer: Patient God, your Holy Word, once again, is our primary source towards a happy, more patient life in relationship to You. May we use it to its fullest. Amen.