
Morning Evening
Colossians 1:11a: “May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious
power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience…”
As a little girl I used to frequent our next-door neighbor’s kitchen. She lived in a cute little
yellow house and was always baking something delicious. I remember one day noticing and
reading a sign posted in her kitchen, “God, grant me patience … and please give it to me right
now!” It hit me just how funny that was (I was about 6 years old), and I never forgot it. I’m not
a naturally patient person and waiting often feels a bit like torture to me, and so that prayer has
sometimes seemed like a commentary on my life … and I have to stop and laugh at myself.
Right now I am feeling fairly impatient, impatient for our lives to return to “normal.” It’s a
good time to recall that little prayer – and then to rest in the strength that God gives us – a
strength that enables us to “endure everything with patience.” This is not a sprint that we’re in;
we’re in a marathon, and endurance and patience are hard to come by. But we have a God
ready to help us … “right now!”
Thanks be to God.
~Rebecca+