Patience Required

Women of Faith:

I’ll admit it, I can be very judgmental and don’t have a lot of patience for all of the wrongs I see around me. I want EVERY relationship, every marriage, to be loving and kind. I want kids to be disciplined and obedient. I want communication between families to be “right.” I hope that more will give, more will serve and more will dedicate their gifts to others. I wish everyone could “see” the difference between the truths of the Church and the evils of society.

I am impatient with laws and the interpretation of laws which allow and tolerate freedoms which so obviously go against God’s natural design for life. I think our laws should protect us from abortion, pornography, terrorism, gay marriage and other self-serving greed. And I want immediate change and the satisfaction of seeing a world changed by God’s perfection.

Sunday’s reading of the parable of the weeds sown among the seeds of grain was a gentle, humble reminder of the fact that God is stronger than the abundance of evil around us. It gave me hope because it reminded me that the devil who plants the evil among us won’t be the ultimate decision maker over which seeds will be harvested.
I must be patient….

"Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” He said in reply, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear.” Mt 13:24-33

Jesus taught in a parable, but then explained that parable so that it wasn’t left to our own interpretation. He said that each of us, as children of God, were created as good seed and that the “bad” seed is sown by the devil who is trying to choke out our good nature, the nature God created in each of us. Jesus said that none of us will be thrown out until the last day, because to do so might be to throw out someone who might change, and God is giving us time to change and always allows us the opportunity of forgiveness for our sins.

We are reminded that it is God who has the ultimate power, and that it is in God’s time that these decisions will be made. We are told that if we succeed in growing healthy amongst the evil weeds we will ultimately be harvested into His kingdom in heaven.

Aw, more patience…..

“For your might is the source of justice; your mastery over all things makes you lenient to all. For you show your might when the perfection of your power is disbelieved…. and you gave your children good ground for hope that you would permit repentance for their sins.” Wis 12:13, 16-19

Again a reminder that I must be patient for there is perfection in God. A perfection that allows Him to be perfectly tolerant, perfectly lenient, and perfectly merciful, as we slowly change, growing in our faith to become the grain that He has so lovingly planted and that He will harvest when it is His chosen time.

Heavenly Father, I am awed by the mercy you show us when we give in to the evil that continues to plant weeds around us. Thank you for Your merciful forgiveness. Thank you for giving us Your son as the sunshine to light our way. Thank you for giving us the Spirit raining down upon us so that we can grow stronger each day. Help us to avoid the choke hold of the evils planted in our lives and stand strong together as Christians. Help us each to assist each other in finding Your good soil and to be patient as we grow together in Your love. Amen.

May we each be as patient, tolerant and merciful of each other’s sins and imperfections as God is of ours.
Blessings,
Charlotte