June 26

“Impatience is lack of love in us.  And only by waiting upon God, can we know love.  Love is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit of God, as we are willing to open our hearts to God’s touch.”  Eugenia Price, S.P.S., 6/26

Eugenia’s statement baffles me.  At first glance I cannot comprehend how lack of patience is the same thing as lack of love.  But then she illustrates her point by explaining how each year we wait for the leaves to turn their brilliant fall colors, but the truth is, the color is always there.  We just can’t see them until the leaves stop making so much chlorophyll.  It’s the manufacturing of this green substance that hides the colors from us.  As I think about this I realize that because I’ve been reconciled with God and His Holy Spirit now lives in me, my heart is like those leaves.  When I am impatient I am not trusting my life to God.  And if I am not trusting God I am not loving Him.  Just as I must wait for the beautiful colors to be revealed each year in the leaves, I must be patient and trust God to reveal all that is beautiful in my heart.  He has already placed all the possibilities for my life there.  Now, I must work out my salvation by patiently waiting on Him to act on my behalf.  It’s in responding to His love that my beauty is uncovered for the world to see and enjoy.

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”  Philippians 2:12, 13