Hammers don't work on dust.

I heard an interesting and somewhat disheartening statement today. A fellow Christ follower, whom I love dearly and hope that they reconsider their statement after reading this, called the devastation in Japan a "Judgement from God" and a "Wake up call for America and the American church". I do not mean to be argumentative but I think this line of reasoning needs to be addressed and in a loving way so I will do my best to do so.

I think Paul puts it best in Roman's 11:34.


Romans 11:34  “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” 


We do not know what the reason's were for the devastation in Japan all we know is that it happened and that we as Christians (who have been given the mind of Christ: 1 Corinthians 2:16)  should be on our knees praying and doing whatever else we can possibly do to alleviate the Japanese people's suffering. God calls us to action and compassion but never judgement. That responsibility is God's and God's alone. 


These people's lives were reduced to dust in a matter of minutes. Using a hammer to get across to them the message of salvation absolutely will not work in this situation. We were asked to be the hands and feet of Christ. We are to lift up, not beat down. 

Bad traffic and a slippery virtue.

Patience is a virtue...a slippery one...

Sometimes it seems to me that I was born an impatient person. I struggle in this area quite a bit. Always have. I am better than I used to be but this has only improved by the grace of God and hard lessons delivered through situations generally involving either, (A.) My Children, (B.) My Career, or (C.) Relationships...Well (A) is kind of a daily undertaking so I don't know if I  should even include the other two...I have a daughter with extreme ADHD and a four year old son...nuff said....I'll move on.

You don't just wake up one day after praying for patience to find that you have miraculously inherited Mother Theresa's temperament and Christ's never ending love for humanity. People still get on your nerves, kids still nag you to the point of insanity, and those last ten to twenty pounds still taunt you like the obnoxious cheerleader in high school that took special pride in making your life a living hell...Oh!... 

(Here comes a random example about impatience. I'm sorry but I have to get this one off my chest.)

And let us not forget those traffic induced fits of impatient rage. God regularly taps me on the shoulder about this one. Seriously though, there is no amount of counting to ten that helps when you are running fifteen minutes behind and the oldest person in existence decides that today, of aaaallll days, is the one that they choose to dust off their drivers license and take the Buick out for a leisurely spin....and by leisurely I mean a practice run for their funeral procession. (I know I'm not alone on this one.)

So why do we let this stuff get to us? What is it that stands between us and patience? 

Trust.

Lemme esplain...

An absence of trust manifests itself as a control issue, which in turn feeds the problem of impatience. 

When I don't trust that God will ultimately work everything out for my good I try to control the timeline and outcome of the situation myself. Then, when that feeble attempt at control is disrupted by something external (My kids aversion to early mornings, A burnt out hair dryer, The blue hair in the Buick) it causes me to become extremely impatient. 

Hopefully I said all of that well enough to understand.

At the end of the day trusting God is the only thing that will increase your ability to have more patience and a shot at some peace. So chill! God's got this! You will be fine and so will I :)