Keep in mind that the Lord your God has been disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. ~Deuteronomy 8:5
On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your ability to be patient?
Being born north of the Mason-Dixon line made me a Yankee by birth. Growing up in Chicago indelibly marked me as a northerner, a Midwesterner through and through. But in 1979 we moved to Texas, then in 1984, to Tennessee, and finally to Florida in 2000. Frankly, I’d grown accustomed to the South. Technically, Texas isn’t an American state in “the South.” Texans will tell you that Texas isn’t in the South, the North, the East, or the West. Texas is a sovereign nation. And Florida? Hard to tell exactly what it is. Now I’m back in the North. Michigan is a wonderful state. Mostly.
In any case, one of the things I discovered when I lived in the South is the two-lane roads that wind through counties everywhere. These routes were trails built by early settlers and used as a party game like Twister and charades. Guests would be dispatched to a certain destination, being given an allotted time to return to the party. All the small roadside graveyards ought to give you a clue as to what happened to some of these guests. You’ve never been lost like you’ll get lost on these narrow roads.
One of the features of these winding roads is the double yellow lines that grace every one of them. This means that if you’re in a hurry, you’d better hope you don’t get behind someone who doesn’t really care about your hasty trip.
I have spent miles traveling closer to the car or truck in front of me than his “Skoal: Breakfast of Champions” bumper sticker. This was a great “conversation starter” between my late wife and me many times.
My score from one to ten is a two or three on the above patience quiz. How about you?
If you haven’t already, read Deuteronomy 8—the whole chapter. Please take special note of today’s key verse. “Keep in mind that the Lord your God has been disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son” (v. 5).
Moses was saying to the Israelites, all that you have been through—including forty years of waiting in the wilderness—is exactly the discipline your loving heavenly Father knew you needed. Follow Him. Do not be anxious. Be patient. If you try to pass Him on a double-yellow line, you will be destroyed. Head-on.
Although you may be able to relate to my impatient desperation on these little roads in Texas and other southern places, there’s a sobering truth here: follow your heavenly Father’s course. He may be moving as fast as you can handle, or He may be crawling at a snail’s pace. In either case, He knows exactly what He’s doing.
Have conversations with your children about the special kind of discipline and pa- tience the Lord is teaching you. Because they’re watching you, they’ll catch on quickly.