Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Lesson to Learn

Grandma Hall loaned me this book and it was a good reminder of things that I need to do. The opening line of the book is "When I turned fifty, some of my more smart-alecky friends were quick to inform me that the warranty on my body has now expired, and I could expect things to start breaking down on a regular basis." Hits close to home. There was one chapter that I found gave me much to think about. The author quotes Gracie Allen, who for those who don't know was a comedienne and wife of George Burns. Gracie said, "Never put a period where God has placed a comma." The author goes on to say, "I like closure. I like to put the period on the sentence of a situation and move on. But life doesn't work that way very often. The Lord frequently invites us to trust Him, to hold on, to endure, to wait and see what He has in mind. As Psalm 27:14 tells us,'Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.'"

I find that many times in my life I have not been as patient as I should have been but that my Heavnely Father has been so unfailing patient with me and has blessed me in so many ways that I would not have expected. So I just share this with you in hopes that you might learn this great principle much earlier that I have.

At the end of each chapter there is an exercise and this is the one at the end of this chapter, "If you're finding that you want the hindsight now, try a prayer that asks for strength to be patient instead of for resolution. Ask to be able to endure the commas rather than for the period to be placed. "