Patiently Suffer

"O Lord, let that become possible to me by grace, which by nature seemeth to me impossible. Thou knowest that I am able to suffer but little, and that I am quickly cast down, when a slight adversity ariseth. For Thy Name's sake, let every exercise of tribulation be made lovable and desirable to me; for to suffer and to be disquieted for Thy sake is very wholesome for my soul." (The Imitation of Christ)

The above is a prayer for the patient endurance of suffering. The reading "Of the Endurance of Injuries, and Who Is Approved to Be Truly Patient", teaches one in adversity "to consider Christ's Passion and the sufferings of other holy men" to see in comparison how little our sufferings truly are and to better prepare us to bear our own tribulations. When we feel our troubles are great it is usually because our patience is little.

To say "I cannot endure to suffer these things at the hands of this man, nor ought I endure things of this sort" dismisses the virtue of patience and causes us to assess another and the injuries. A truly patient man is prepared to accept any adverse action and take it "thankfully as from the hand of God and esteem it a great gain".

Harmony Within

"You must not expect to live in a world where all is harmony. You must not expect to live where others are in unbroken accord with you. It is your task to maintain your own heart peace in adverse circumstances. Harmony is always yours when you strain your ear to catch Heaven's music. Doubt always your power or wisdom to put things right; ask Me to right all as you leave it to Me, and go on your way loving and laughing. I am Wisdom. Only my Wisdom can rightly decide anything--settle any problem. So rely on Me. All is well. ( "God Calling")"

I often read daily meditations from the book, God Calling,. I read the above this morning and its message rang clearly...helping me to give a problem that I have had for a several months to God to settle. I have been judging another based on how they do or do not treat me and it has affected my "heart peace." Only after doing some writing to look at my part in this situation, I realized that what has really been affecting my inner peace is that I was judging another simply because I did not like the way they treated me. The truth is they are also a child of God, as each of us is, and I realize that only God's Wisdom can right the problem. In doing this, I ask God to forgive me for judging another and I know that the problem will be handled by He that has all wisdom...all is well!