God is Patient

You've probably heard it before - God is not slow; He's being patient (2 Peter 3:9). 

And there have probably been times that you've heard that, put your hands on your hips, started tapping your foot, and asked, "How much longer is He gonna be patient?" You're ready for God to move. 

Now. 

Sometimes, I find that my reflexes work faster than my brain. Someone will say something to me, and I'll immediately reply with a "huh?" or a "what?" only to have their words actually register with complete and full understanding just a few seconds later, and I have to say, "Oh, no. I got it. Sorry." Based on my interactions with other human beings, I'm not the only one who does this; it is a very human experience. 

But it also often turns into a series of interruptions, where the other person has already started repeating themselves and is now trying to clarify while I'm trying to wave them off and indicate that I already understand and am ready to move forward with whatever it is. 

If we had both just stopped for half a second before getting ourselves deeper into this, we could have avoided a lot of it. 

That's what I think of when I think about God being patient. I think about hearing Him, having that immediate reaction that I don't think I heard or understood, but then God, in His patience, gives me that little moment, that small bit of breathing room, and I realize I got it. Yup. Heard. Understood. Processed. Or, at least, processing. 

God's giving me time to let it sink in, to figure it out, to put it down into my bones and make it part of my own story. 

And quite honestly, I'm thankful for that. 

Because I'm a person who learns by doing. I learn by being actively involved in the learning and the doing and the execution of things. I learn by putting the pieces together and applying them specifically to my own heart and story so that I see how the threads weave together to make sense. 

I have plenty of book knowledge about God. I went to seminary, for Christ's sake (no, really - I don't get to make that joke often enough; I really went for Christ's sake). I have read millions of words about Him. I have a rolodex of factoids and truths and tidbits of stories tucked away in my head. (Does anybody still know what a rolodex is?) 

But the things that I treasure most about God are the things that I have learned in my heart the hard way, in the time it takes for me to learn them. In that patient little moment He gives me to figure out how it makes sense and how beautiful it is. 

Sure, He could just tell me, but I wouldn't get it in the same way. And He knows that. He knows it's better if I experience it...and I can only experience by engaging...and I can only engage by understanding...and I can understand through patience, by giving me that extra little moment to "get it." 

Got it?