patience

God’s Arrival Time

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments 
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Lamentations 3:25-26 ESV

Our oldest grandson flew home last night from a visit with friends back in Pennsylvania. His family went to pick him up at the airport, and while his dad checked for the flight’s arrival, the younger ones milled around looking for snacks, but, the fourteen year-old, with his newly acquired cell phone decided to begin texting, “Are you here yet Amadeo? How about now? Now? Now? Now? Now?”  Since it was a family group text, soon all our phones began pinging like a popcorn machine at the movies.  While Alex was having a blast, the rest of us were left rolling our eyes. But just then God reminded me that sometimes I am just like Alex. In my prayers I have been asking; “When are you going to fix things, bring evil men to justice and give us peace? How about now? Now? Now? Now? Now?” Maybe Alex’s enthusiastic impatience makes me laugh so hard because we are alot alike. In today’s verse the prophet Jeremiah, shares with us what God had taught him after the destruction of Jerusalem. Thousands of soldiers had been killed, tens of thousands of civilians had starved to death during the siege, and most of the survivors were marched off as slaves. There had been no miraculous rescue or escape for God’s people, and yet in the midst of the devastation, God showed Jeremiah that He was still in control. God’s plan for him was to as Kipling once wrote, “keep your head when everyone around you is losing theirs.”  No matter how bad things get, we must believe that God’s “Now!” is way better than ours and that His goodness and salvation extends far beyond the arrival time we are hoping for in our prayers!

Photo by Palu Malerba on Pexels.com

Not a Very Good Waiter!

/ pastorpete51 / 8 Comments 
I’m not a very good waiter
I just hate to be standing around!
But I’ve learned that the times when I wait on the Lord
That in Him joy and strength can be found

But when I complain that it's going too slow
Then He waits for me to quiet down
For Jesus gives His grace to the meek
With His promise of life that abounds

Then after all has been said in my day
When I finally trust He knows best
He comes and He carries me on eagle’s wings
To His mountain where eagles can rest!
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But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
 they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31 ESV


Not a Very Good Waiter by Peter Caligiuri
Copyright © 2022 all rights reserved

Hurry Up Turtle!

/ pastorpete51 / 15 Comments 
"The Hurrier You Go
The Behinder you get!"
Old Pennsylvania Dutch saying

Hurry up turtle you’re right in the way
And we’re late for the things we’ve got to do today
Turtle turned and he looked
But kept plodding along
As if to ask “What’s the hurry 
When this road is so warm?”

But I fussed and I fumed and I honked on the horn
Till my wife told me I had to slow down and stay calm
Then I turned and I saw we had stopped by a nest
Of robin’s cheep-cheeping - I had disturbed their rest

Then I blushed as I bowed and talked to the Lord
So ashamed yet so glad we were stopped on that road
For God speaks to us in some unlikely places
If we'll slow down and listen instead of off to the races
For He shows us His path step by step as we pray
And be patient with turtles 
He has put in our way! 

Hurry Up Turtle by Peter Caligiuri
Copyright 2022 all rights reserved
Photo by Ludvig Hedenborg on Pexels.com