Lent – Day 24

Scripture – 2 Peter 3:9

Reflection

God is patient; most of us are counting on it.  There is comfort in knowing that God won’t foreclose on the loan of our lives today or demand a perfection we know that is beyond us.  But do we misunderstand God’s patience as an excuse for complacent living?  There is a great deal of difference between living under soul-numbing, joy-stealing, divine pressure and feeling no pressure at all.

Perhaps God, rightly understood,is the master of patient pressure.  Pressure scares me, but I count on my chiropractor to put my slipped discs under pressure so they will quit being a source of pain. Pressure scares us, but a good psychologist will put us under a little pressure to get us to face what we’d prefer to avoid.  Pressure puts the curve in the inflexible piece of wood that shapes a swift and elegant boat.  Pressure forms the pot out of the shapeless clay.

The Lord is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

No complacency here. This is a good season to cooperate with God’s patient pressure to bend our rigid soul in a more faithful direction. Repentance is how we do it.

Prayer Focus

Ask God through the power of he Spirit to help you see where you are stuck and in pain in your life.  Pray that you will cooperate with God’s patient pressure to bend in the direction of faith, hope, and love.