God Who Waits to Show Us Kindness

Read |Isaiah 59 and Romans 11|

God tolerates our shortcomings and stubborn behavior. He does not become upset or annoyed. Instead, He lovingly wills us to come to Him. This is what He did with the children of Israel, who had firsthand experience of God’s deliverance out of Egyptian bondage and his miraculous power, as he fed them with manna and quail from the sky in the wilderness. Yet, when they encountered difficulties in their lives they turned to foreign gods, built idols to help them and accused their brothers and sisters for the state in which they were in. 

God watched their deterioration in spirit, mind and body and stood still so that He could act. Surprisingly, from a human perspective, He did not wait so that He could act in wrath. No! He waited so that He could have the good pleasure of rescuing them in love. Several generations later, the world would behold Jesus Christ-God’s chosen servant-sent to bring good news to the humble and the afflicted, bind up the wounds of the brokenhearted and declare freedom from confinement and condemnation. (Isaiah 59, 61: 1-2, Romans 11 and Luke 4:18-22). He withheld justly due wrath, so He could show kindness. (Romans 6:23 and 2 Peter 3:9).

We are no different from the Israelites, who in their impatience with respect to their suffering, worshipped foreign gods, built idols and turned on each other. In life, we are all bombarded by various issues, some more manageable than others. And in the midst of our crises we turn to self-help.  And when self-reliance proves folly, we turn to our fellow human beings and even seek help from other realms; only surrendering to the call to submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ when we, our friends and idols, have crumbled under the weight. (Proverbs 3:5-7 and Proverbs 14:12).

The amazing thing about God is that He does not scold, chastise or reprimand us. Instead, He patiently waits for us to reach out to Him.  And when we do, we find His warm embrace that relieves our pains, anxieties and fears. (Matthew 11:28 and 1 John 4:18). We find that it becomes well with our souls. We find that we come to prosper in the most undeserved and unexpected ways. Amazing grace enfolds us and we are helped.
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There is much comfort to be received from this attribute of our God. His patience and kindness wo us unto repentance for our own sakes and for His glory. Let us not take for granted this patience-this undeserved kindness-but take hold of the day that is today-the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2). Let us who are already in Christ put on our new selves and live by the Holy Spirit, growing in holiness with each passing day. (Ephesians 4:17 - 24). Regardless of what we have done, or are doing, God is patiently waiting on us to come to Him. Redemption and sanctification are His good and pleasing desires for us. (Titus 2:14). He calls us to embrace what is, in fact, good and pleasing. (Romans 1:1-2). Turn and come!

Beloved, if you have not yet yielded to the kindness of God expressed to you in His patience, do so now. Turn from the path that leads to destruction and enter into the way of life through Jesus, who is the Christ. Get on board and come home: https://www.earthbasic.org/way-home.html. 

Go Deeper

As Be-Held Women we believe that true self-care is accomplished in a lifestyle of intimacy with Jesus Christ. We take care by drawing near to God through seeking and living the truth of God’s Word, by the power of His indwelling Holy Spirit. We are confident that in living the truth by His Holy Spirit we will be transformed into women who bear the image of Jesus Christ in spirit, soul and body-women who are empowered to bless many.  Dear Be-Held Woman, seeking, living and being transformed by the truth of God's Word, we offer you this Bible study guide to support you in your endeavors! Apply it to this week's Scripture readings.

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