Plain Vanilla: Patience, Part 3

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Oh, the irony: Yesterday evening, my ISP filter suddenly blocked all of Blogger. I fired off three different 'review this site' requests, fretting that I'd be blocked and not able to post today's final post on *ahem* patience.... Yeah, I'm still learning...!

If you want to catch up, here's Part 1 and Part 2


Finally,the third application of patience is...watch your attitude. Maybe you’re stuck in a situation that you can’t bail out of, even if you wanted to, and there is nothing you can do to bring about God’s deliverance. You, quite simply, are caught in events completely beyond your control.

In a prolonged unchanging and unchangeable trial, the danger is not that you will give up, or mess it up, but that you will develop a bitter attitude and/or a complaining spirit. Hey, this is a bigger deal than we realize, because God will not bless complaining.

This has been a hard lesson for me, personally, because I complain without even realizing it. I’ve still got much growing to do in this area. But the lessons are coming:

A number of years ago, I was in a situation that I considered to be just plain unfair. I had learned enough to know not to gripe about it to anybody else, but it was just really getting to me. Finally, I found myself driving home from the grocery store, completely alone (I had pre-school kids at the time...time alone was rare). Now, I thought, I can at least tell God how unfair this whole situation is! I opened my mouth and began to let God know exactly what I thought about the way I was being treated. I got about to the second sentence when He stopped me cold.

“Do you think I don’t know what’s going on?” I felt Him speak to my spirit.

“Well,” I replied, “I know You know, but I just feel like I need to say it out loud anyway…y’know, Lord, get it off my chest.”

Suddenly, the Holy Spirit showed me that I wasn’t sharing my heart with God – I was justifying my feelings. I saw that I was actually rehearsing my story so I could tell it for maximum effect later on! And, instead of turning the burden over to God, I was just getting myself more upset about the situation. I felt Him very deliberately tell me not to speak out loud what I was feeling. Big ouch!

But, I have to tell you that, something like a year later, I could not remember what it was that had upset me so. I remembered who it involved, but I honestly could not remember the particulars of why I was feeling so ill treated.

Now, if I had lamented to God about it every time it came to mind, it would have been rooted deeper and deeper in my spirit. I would have been able to relate (quite effectively and eloquently!) to anyone and everyone how I had been misunderstood and misjudged and mistreated. But, because I swallowed my perceived injustice when God told me to do so, it left me. Stayed gone for many, many months.

Then, one day, right out of the blue, the whole situation appeared in my head. You can say what you want, but I believe the devil was trying to steal my victory in that area. But – here’s the amazing thing: Though I remembered, literally in a flash, all the details and who said and who did and how unfair I thought it was at the time, there wasn’t one bit of pain associated with the incident. The whole thing was healed up. That seemed to me to be an even greater victory than just forgetting about it!

Now,let me give you an example of someone who apparently resisted all impulses to complain - even though his suffering came because of the unrighteous actions of other people, and even though several people betrayed him over a period of some twenty years. This guy had every reason to be the biggest complainer on earth. He could have told a sob story on somebody’s talk show that would have moved the hearts of thousands. Sure, he was his daddy’s favorite, and he had a big mouth and youthful indiscretion in using it, but he never did anything really wrong to his brothers. Certainly nothing worth barely escaping a death threat by being sold into slavery.

Most of us would have given into bitterness and resentment at that point, telling everyone we could about the great life we used to live and how unfairly we’d been treated. But, Joseph seems to have accepted what came and made the best of it, trusting God to make those troublesome dreams of his come to pass, even though they looked even less likely now than ever. We do know that God blessed him in everything he did, so much so that Potiphar put him in charge of the whole household and Potiphar’s wife couldn’t keep her hands off of him. Then, the second blow came – Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him, then accused him of attempted rape when he refused her (setting a great example of “fleeing sexual immorality” in the process!). Potiphar, probably feeling that he had to publicly believe his wife over his trusted servant, had Joseph thrown into prison (I think this was just for publicity’s sake...if he had really believed Joseph was guilty as charged, he could have had him killed at once). No judge, no jury, no sentence. Once again, Joseph was simply thrown away.

Now, if I were Joseph, I would really be lamenting my circumstances. Not once, but twice, he had suffered a major life calamity due to someone else’s unrighteous actions. But, again, he seems to simply trust God that it will all work out right in the end. He makes the best of his situation, maintains his integrity, and quickly becomes the most trusted inmate of the prison, given responsibilities over the other prisoners and in the activities of the prison...for years. He just keeps on doing, with the best of his ability, that which is given him to do. Of course, now we can all see how this worked out to bring about the promises of God; but at that time Joseph was just going on faith.

The Apostle Paul stated the essence of the proper attitude in Philippians chapter four, when he writes, “...I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances, for I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” (Phil. 4:11b – 13). Joseph knew this secret…and you and I must also learn it if we are going to see all of God’s promises for us come to pass.


So, whether you are dealing with a protracted period where God seems to have forgotten you, or you’re in the middle of really unpleasant circumstances and God isn’t speaking, then 1) don’t bail out, 2) don’t try to fix it yourself and 3) don’t complain. Keep doing the best you know how to do, and listen closely, because when God speaks, your situation is about to change.