Lengthening Your Fuse

If you're like me, or like most women, with raging hormones and what-not, you may feel that you have a short fuse--a lack of patience. You feel you have been too patient with people in the past, and you refuse to be trampled all over again. You're tired of the same old routine. The kids wont stop drawing on the walls, or peeing in the bed overnight. Your husband won't stop tucking his socks under the couch, and you'll be darned if you have to sit on the toilet again mid-pee trying to put a new roll on, because YOU are clearly the only one is is capable. (Sarcasm, ladies.)

You ask nicely, then you ask nicely again. Then you get a little irritated, and then one day, BOOM! You explode. You spew forth words you'll later regret, and commit actions that later will leave you sitting there with your head in your hands wondering how you allowed yourself to go off the deep-end again. You don't want to me the mommy-monster, or the nagging wife. You don't want to be the bad guy. So how do you prevent another Momuclear explosion?

When you decided to become a woman of God, you received the very life of Jesus Christ, and in doing so, you possess a part of his divine nature. You begin to share and produce his characteristics. One of the many amazing characteristics of God, is that he is long-suffering. To develop this characteristic, one must first understand what the word, "long-suffering," means.

The word Long-suffering is actually made up of two Greek terms that when textually translated into English means, "long," and "temper." To be long-suffering then, means to have self-restraint when you are stirred to anger. Long-suffering is associated with mercy (1 Peter 3:20) and hope
(1 Thessalonians 1:4). A long-sufferer will never surrender to circumstances or succumb to trial.
God expects us to be long-suffering as he is long-suffering, and he promises to reward us for our patience and self-sacrifice.

Consider the story of Ruth. She was not an Israelite, but a Moabitess. Though she did not know the God of Israel just yet, she chose to follow her mother-in-law Naomi after both of their husbands had died. Living in a strange new land as a widow, Ruth chose to believe in God's promise that says, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye." (Psalm 32:8) Through patience, and long-suffering, and many days gleaming in the field with the heat beating against her back, she won over Boaz, her future husband-to-be.  In doing so, she fulfilled God's will for her life; she had found her purpose. Her mother in law called her blessed, and her lineage can be traced down all the way to the Messiah-- Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Long-suffering can earn you God's favor. It is such a powerful tool in your walk with Christ, that through his authority and through long-suffering, you can win over even the hardest of hearts. Is there's someone's heart that you need to be softened towards you? Patience is not given, but earned through continual practice. Pray today that God gives you the endurance you need, and the encouragement you need to continue to put your long-suffering into practice. He promises to you and me that it will be worth it all, and I believe it. Will you?