by Hope Cook
March 24, 2015

Romans 12:12: Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer

Sometimes God has a funny way of answering our prayers.  I was reading Sue Monk Kidd’s reflections in First Light.  She tells of a time when her babies were both still in cloth diapers.  She’d been praying for patience.  The washing machine broke, then it began raining like a monsoon and the dryer broke.  She had to hand wash dozens of dirty diapers and hang them all over the house to dry.  She felt like God answered her prayer because she was definitely taught patience as a result of this ordeal.

As I read, I realized God has also been answering my prayers, but I had been frustrated because He wasn’t answering them the way I thought He should.  For example, I have also been recently praying for patience with the children.  Ollie is in a new stage (we hope it’s just a stage) of throwing horrible tantrums multiple times a day, becoming hysterically unglued.  This has been quite trying to say the least.  Likewise, Eli’s new stage of near constant potty humor has tried my patience like never before.  I really didn’t want God to give me trials to teach me patience, I just wanted him to tidy up the situation so I wouldn’t need to exercise patience.  I think He must have a good sense of humor.

Prayer: God, thank you for your constant teaching and molding.  Thank you for reminding us that today’s hardships will be tomorrow’s strength and virtue builders.