A Reality Check on the Journey to Patience

Rebekah’s story continues on her symbolic Fruit journey to Patience.
Longsuffering, we find, is key to good relationships.

2000 Years Ago: Rebekah’s Journey to Patience

The servant led the caravan of camels toward the field where his master often walked and thought in the cool of the evening.

They left the road, and Rebekah lifted her eyes from the well-trodden path as she noticed the change in terrain.

There… in the distance was the figure of a man, walking, head upturned, watching their approach.  She turned to the servant with a question in her eyes.

“It is my master.”  The servant spoke with pride.

Indeed, there was a reason for the man’s high regard.  Rebekah saw a man whose very stance portrayed strength.  So manly!  And, well, a perfect 10 on the scale of a girl’s dreams.  Her heart pounded.

Her fear of the unknown for the future streamed off her like dust in a refreshing rain shower.  The Lord had been faithful; He had brought her safely to the home He promised her.  Home?  No, not just home… the man He had promised her.  More than her dream could ever have imagined.  Her lovely face shone with the light of that realization.

She braced her hands and

lit off the camel.

She must not remain atop a camel while her betrothed remained below.  Oh, yes, her mother had taught her how to be proper since the day she was born!

The servant watched as Rebekah lighted off the camel.  He stepped forward to assist her, but she was already on the ground, arranging her veil over her face.  Be still, beating heart, she muttered to herself.  So she could appear cool and calm on the outside at least.

Rebekah waited for this God-chosen man to approach.

And each loud thump of her heart struck home the knowledge of the Lord’s blessings upon her:

God chose her to receive His gifts,

took her on a long faith-journey

and then brought her safely to the future He had planned.

Today: Finding Rebekah-Patience

Are you receiving the gifts from God that you desire?

Or are you on a camel journey that seems endless?

Meanwhile, do you believe God has a great future planned for you?

Do you want the gift of patience?

I never realized how much I needed this gift.

Never even knew that patience was a gift.  Isn’t it something you exercise, all while fuming inside, when you absolutely have to?  For the barest minimum of time that you have to endure? So you can get back on the program you planned before someone disrupted it?

This entitlement we feel… that my program is the greatest and everyone should accept that if we do things my way it will get done so much better.

And all the people rubbing shoulders with each other, going to church together, working together, playing together, all while feeling entitled, is a recipe for disaster.

Until…

we realize we’re missing a gift or two.

We finally get it that we need longsuffering.  Patience.

We need…

A reality check on the journey to patience.

“Girl, you are going to be late!”

“Daughter, do you understand how disrespectful it is to be late?”

“If you don’t leave now you’re reputation will suffer!”

Me, standing beside the stair rail, railing down the stairs at my daughter getting ready for work.  For an appointment.  For a party.  Whatever.  She was always late.

And me?  I was sooooo late catching on that I needed patience.  I needed understanding.  And I needed to shut up and listen to what she wasn’t saying in words.

Her actions were shouting what she couldn’t express.  And I didn’t get it, because I didn’t have the patience to get inside her heart.  I thought I knew how things should be.

She did, too.  Oh, yes, she knew exactly how I wanted things to be, how the whole world thought things should be.  She knew it so deeply that her whole being was recoiling, because she knew that with autism, she couldn’t always perform according to the world’s expectations.

She couldn’t perform according to my demands.

Do you see my tears falling as I write this?

I can’t believe I couldn’t understand my daughter.  Then, I knew nothing about autism.  I knew nothing about God’s special people who live on this other planet.

It took thick books and hours of research and so much suffering on both our parts before I learned.

Before I realized that I needed more gifts.

God knew I needed the gift of patience.

No, I didn’t know I needed this gift.  In fact, if you would have asked me, I thought I owned it.

I didn’t yell when my little ones spilled their milk.  I smiled and went to get a rag.

No one riles other drivers on the road by honking when they weren’t getting their stuff together.  And if I riled someone into honking?  Just wave and mouth “Sorry.”  No road rage here, ever.

When a friend forgot I existed?  No big deal.  She’s busy.  She has stuff going on and when this crisis is over, we’ll be good again.  So much patience all around.

But when it came to something right in my home, in front of me everyday, I didn’t catch on.

So I could see the obvious stuff that needed patience. But the quiet little girl who did the best she could and always tried to please?  She I took for granted.  Until the day came when she maxed out, and I didn’t get what the signs meant.

Someone on the high end of the autism spectrum can blend in quite well until their physical age passes the emotional age they max out on.  When they reach that emotional limit, goals become very hard to achieve.  What is acquired naturally for non-spectrum people has to be learned and relearned in a very conscious way.  And many things are impossible to ever attain.

I wish I could say everything rolls along smoothly every day now. We all know that’s not how life works. However, God always helps us grow, although sometimes in hard ways.

May the Journey be smoothed and soothed with the oil of Longsuffering, which is Patience.

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The Fruit of the Spirit

Ten “Friday of Preparation” studies align the story of Rebekah in the Bible
with a Fruit of the Spirit, then concluding with the “Legacy” post.
The series begins with “Love.”

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