The Puzzle Of Powerful Patience Series

They worked together to push and pull and tug… and it seemed like she’d never get those boots on him. The boots just didn’t seem to want to go on. They FINALLY got the 2nd boot on when the little boy looked up and said, ‘Teacher, they’re on the wrong feet.’

She looked and sure enough, they were. It wasn’t any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on. She managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the boots back on—this time on the right feet.

He then announced, ‘These aren’t my boots.’

She literally bit her tongue and controlled herself as she asked, ‘Well, why didn’t you say so?’

Once again she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off.

… and then he said, ‘They’re my brother’s boots. My Mom made me wear them.’

She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She mustered up the grace and courage she had left to wrestle the boots on his feet again.

Then she said, ‘Now, where are your mittens?’

He sweetly looked up at her and said: ‘I stuffed them in the toes of my boots…’

Now, that is LONGGG suffering. That is patience in the presence of repeated frustration.

AND why was that teacher willing to show such patience?

Because - this little boy was only a Kindergartner. He didn’t know any better than what he did. He wasn’t trying to be rebellious or mean spirited. He was just immature.

In the church you’re going to find lots of people who are young in their faith. They’ll have less maturity than you’d expect them to have. But unless they’re being rebellious or mean spirited, God calls you and I to be patient with them.

In the church… if a member, or group of members is mean spirited or rebellious, that calls for discipline. And (in the church) whose job is it to bring about discipline? That’s right, the Elders and the preacher. God puts this in the hands of the Elders because they are family men who have proven that they know how to raise their kids to honor God. That includes discipline. But even when they discipline members of the church, Elders must be gentle and show PATIENCE.

WHY? Because the church is made up of many different kinds of people.

They have many different backgrounds and degrees of faith.

Because that is true, Ephesians 4 advises us to “…be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit— just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:2-6)

God’s objective is to take people from many different walks of life - people who have struggled with many different kinds of sins - THEN save them and join them together… like they were pieces of a puzzle. His goal is to take these people of various shapes and sizes and colors and fit them together to form a glorious picture of unity that can impress even the most jaded skeptic or critic.

Ephesians 4:15-16 tells us that our goal should be to speak… “the truth in love, (so) we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together (kind of like pieces of a puzzle) by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”