Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Patience”
Our Bible verse for today: “Don’t say, ‘I’ll avenge this evil!’ Wait on the Lord, and He will rescue you.” Proverbs 20:22 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “God will right all wrongs.”
As a military officer I was trained to think fast and act fast. Most military training is designed to condition you to respond quickly and appropriately to a crisis or life-threatening situation. Your goal is to quickly assess the situation, decide on an appropriate response, and then act decisively and with speed. Of course, you don’t want to allow your decision-making to get ahead of your facts, but you also can’t afford to hesitate for very long. Bold and decisive action usually carries the day.
Unfortunately, that’s also the way most of us react when we think we’ve been wronged. Basic human nature moves us to respond. While that may be a good thing in a crisis or in some life threatening situation, it’s frequently the wrong response in most other cases. Most of the time the better thing to do is to patiently wait, prayerfully consider the situation, and many times – do nothing.
Allowing our emotions to dictate our responses is almost never a good thing. Unless you’re shooting down an incoming missile, dodging a bullet, or fighting off an armed robber, an immediate response to a negative situation is seldom the right thing. Almost always it’s better to let time pass, emotions to cool, and tempers to settle down before you say or do anything.
When dealing with difficult and unpleasant situations I’ve usually found that if I commit the thing to prayer, and then patiently wait on the Lord, He will very often deal with the situation for me, and in the end there will have been little if any action required on my part.
I’m not necessarily advocating for doing nothing. Sometimes we do have to respond. But if time and the situation allows, then the more prudent approach is usually to patiently wait and give the Lord plenty of time to deal with it first. It may turn out that you are supposed to respond. It could be that the Lord intends to respond to the situation through you. But even then, that will become apparent in time. Almost always it’s better to patiently wait. In time God will right all wrongs.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 