I don't get it

[Searching_for_Christ]

I don't seem to get it. I remember last week (after I recommited myself to Christ) I prayed to the Lord that he would guide me through my day at work, give me patience ect. That day I came in and found out my boss was writing up every last one of us for a poor job done by only a couple of folks (3 write ups, and I could lose my job) so I was getting in trouble for something I had no part of. That very day my first customer was a very rude snobby person. Fast forward to this week. I'm still praying for guidance and patience. Our vans transmission blew while my mom was on the highway (after we already spent several thousand dollars getting some unrelated problem fixed) we are trying to help my brother pay a credit card bill (which suddenly increased in ammount for seemingly no reason...nearly one grand) so now we have to get a new vehicle..pumping money into this van is not a benefit, but turns out we don't have enough money to even put a down payment on a new vehicle....also today in the middle of all this, our dryer decided to hit the great beyond...suddenly we have all these financial problems we have to deal with..and we already struggle to make it WITHOUT these problems.

Prayer has brought me troubles so far.

 

[Coralie]

Sounds like God is allowing you many opportunities to practice patience.

I'm really sorry to hear about all your troubles! This is all normal though. The hard knocks don't stop when you become a Christian or renew your commitment -- they go on as normal, possibly even worsening. Your job is to endure patiently, remembering that God is training you to win the race.

Lots of love to you. You may want to talk to your priest about this. It will help.

 

[Searching_for_Christ]

when you become a Christian or renew your commitment -- they go on as normal, possibly even worsening.

Worsening in my case.

Lots of love to you. You may want to talk to your priest about this. It will help.

I have no priest.

 

[Boogdar]

Thank goodness you asked for patience...

 

[nutroll]

So the real question is, have you learned patience? I know that sounds like a trite question, but we aren't promised smooth sailing as Christians, but we are promised struggle. Patience is born out of struggle. I know an old catholic lady who had lived a very hard life. She used to tell people not to ask God for patience because He would surely teach it to us if we asked, and we might not like the way He teaches it to us. Of course we should pray for patience, as well as all the fruits of the Holy Spirit, but we should be prepared for struggle against the world, against ourselves, and against the demons if we expect to receive these fruits.

I will pray for you and all the difficulties in your life now...

 

[Boogdar]

The will of God often seems to allow us to be left open to the elements of the world. And indeed I do believe that is his will. Not because he doesn't want to bless us, or because he for some reason takes joy in seeing use suffer, no.
If we are to become what he would have us be, it is for us to go through these things. To learn patience, as we mentioned earlier, to learn survival, to gain intelligence, to grow, to cry, to rail against ourselves and him, and then to again try our testimony.
Now, many say, it is a test! I disagree, for God knows us better than we know ourselves, what use would it be to test us?
It is a process, Consider this: When smelting gold, would you keep the ore from the fire saying, "I already know what it will become." ? Would you put it in saying, "This is a test to see what it will become." ? No, you smelt the gold because you know what it can become, and this is the process for refining it.
You are going through what we all go through, you are being refined, it is a painful growing process, I promise if you stay close to the Lord your testimony, that is being stressed at the moment, will be strengthened in the end.
God will prove himself to you, you have to prove yourself to you.

 

[Boogdar]

we should be prepared for struggle against the world, against ourselves, and against the demons if we expect to receive these fruits.

Very good point, what better way to learn patience than to use it. A person going through the rapids and trials of life has the opportunity to learn this virtue, someone who is in stagnant comfortable warm water doesn't.

 

[Michael G]

To quote Fr. Sebastian Samay, my wise philosophy professor from seminary: "God is not a sugar daddy in the sky." (That quote was said with a very heavy Austrian accent).

 

[-Kyriaki-]

I learned years ago the risks of praying for patience. I was about as 'on fire for God' as 17 year olds raised in evangelicals houses get, and into everything...I always joke that I must have made that mistake and that's why what came next happened.

At about 16 and a half I had my first (more minor) nervous breakdown and failed a semester of school because of it, a year and a half later I had a proper one and spent three months unable to get out of bed. A year after that, recovered for the most part, I found myself bedridden again and incredibly weak, which stayed for the next two to three years despite all medical treatment. I'm in remission now, as far as I can tell, so as long as I look after myself I'm pretty much okay, but you know what?

It made me an Orthodox Christian - and a very different person. My temperament has changed radically since I was 17, and not just in the normal way that happens with growing up. Being stuck in bed all day I learned patience - I had no choice but to. I had to rely on God - I was entirely aware of the fact that good days (where I could leave the house) were rare and I was grateful for them.

To be honest, my prayer life sucks now. I struggle spiritually in so many ways, which I suppose is another trial that's good for me, but I know that my spiritual life was much more healthy when I wasn't.

That's not to say that we should all get sick or have horrible things happen to us if we want a good spiritual life...but the struggles and hardships of life mature us into Christians and the image of Christ, where having things easy mean we don't have to change at all.

Don't expect God to give you everything easy, that's the complete opposite of what we need for Christian maturity. Pray for strength to deal with what comes, and practice the Christian virtues - that's what trials are, opportunities to practice.

 

[Knee V]

Several years ago I was praying to learn humility and patience. It became a very rough couple years. The question that we must ask ourselves is "am I willing to find Christ in the midst of my struggle?" God saves us in order that we might come to know Him, that we might converse face-to-face and be called friends of God, as did/was Moses. All of our struggles can serve as means to lead us to call upon God even more, if we'll recognize them as such. I know that the way that plays itself out can often seem like we're on a dead-end road. But as desperate as the situation may seem, God is still there waiting to be found.

I don't mean for that to sound like some kind of Sunday School answer, but I know what it's like for life to suck and to think that there's no more future (financial, marital, job - the whole shabang). But if we're willing to see that it's not about these things and and to see what it is we ought to be seeking, we'll begin to find it in the midst of all that.

 

[Etsi]

You asked to learn patience, you get plenty thrown at you to teach you patience

 

[Searching_for_Christ]

Thank you guys, this has helped me get back up on my feet. This all just kinda stinks that its all so close to Christmas. Praying for patience...hehe I remember reading about a guy named Ray Comfort...I believe he asked to be humbled or something..never the less..he experienced a anxiety break down that made him bed ridden and scared to talk to folks for..years...sometimes we don't really think about what we are asking for.

 

[judechild]

If I may chime in: sometimes, when I'm really quite prideful, I'll pray "Father, humiliate me" ... He seems to respond quickly to that one often.

Glad you're feeling better, SoC.

 

[Michael G]

Don't pray for patience. I did that in college and ended up a week later tearing the ligaments in my right ankle playing indoor soccer. The ligament tear put me in a cast for 8 weeks and that caused me to have to walk on crutches arround the HUGE campus of the University of Toledo. I learned my lesson: God is more than willing to teach us patience.

 

[Antony in Tx]

... someone who is in stagnant comfortable warm water doesn't.

Which is exactly why I prefer strong currents and lots of bubbles in my comfortable warm water (I'm thinking Hot Tub here!)

 

[Boogdar]

Good Thought! Hot tub time!

 

[Christos Anesti]

If we pray for patience I think God may often give us situations that require patience because that is how we learn the virtue. I wish you the best in your walk with the Lord.

 

[Philothei]

I was looking to post for you St. Paisios but came across this saint :
St. Ypomone (St. Patience) What a remarkable woman she was :
Full of Grace and Truth: St. Ypomoni (Patience) the Righteous


Ah...here is St. Paisios on patience:

[FONT=Verdana,sans-serif]Elder Paisios gave some good advice about how to develop patience to one of his followers. When he was asked about how to acquire patience, he went into his cell and brought out a bag of candy. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,sans-serif]He gave to him and said: [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,sans-serif]"Take two a day. However, do not chew them. Be patient and wait until they melt in your mouth.[/FONT]

Orthodox Way of Life: How to Develop Patience - Candy?

 

[Etsi]

I was looking to post for you St. Paisios but came across this saint :
St. Ypomone (St. Patience) What a remarkable woman she was :
Full of Grace and Truth: St. Ypomoni (Patience) the Righteous

My youngest daughter thinks I'm teasing her when I say "have patience, Patience!"

 

[E.C.]

Be careful what you pray for


One of our priests prayed for humility only to write his homily for that Sunday based on the next week's readings!