Divine Restraint

        "I know everything about you, far than you know of yourself. But I restrain my yearning to "fix" you, waiting instead for you to come to Me for help. Imagine the divine restraint this requires, for I have all Power in heaven and on earth." 

This excerpt from my Jesus Calling devotional this weekend just blew me away! For someone like me, who is a "fixer," (i.e. I see a problem and I immediately start thinking up a step-by-step plan of how to rectify or resolve the issue, and then I set out to fix it using the aforementioned steps*.) this was just a mind-blowing thought to process for me. If I, as a powerless finite human am constantly struggling to keep myself from trying to help "fix" all the problems of the people in my life, I can NOT imagine the patience that the Lord exhibits on our behalf in waiting for us to come to Him to ask for help with our problems and struggles, especially given that He possesses ALL power in heaven and on earth. It is here that once again the Lord brings me back to 2nd Peter 3:8-9, which says, "But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." Wow. These verses and the continual reminders in my life of God patience with me and with us just absolutely floor me. God is so GREAT. HE JUST IS. I LOVE IT AND I LOVE HIM. Thank You, Lord, for your patience and Your faithfulness towards us. Thank you for your divine restraint. Let Your example be a lesson to us on how to better love those people in our own lives. We love you. In Your Son's Holy name, Amen. :-)
    How about you? Are you a fixer too? What do you think about the Lord's patience with us? Does it ever seem to you like He is being slow in keeping His promises to you? What helps/encourages you through those days/seasons of your life? :-)

*Which doesn't always work, especially when it comes to the messiness of some of our lives' problems...as several friends and family can attest to. As one of my friends put it when I was trying to help and counsel him on a problem in his own life, "Julia, it doesn't always work like that. I understand what you are saying and that it comes from a place of caring for me and wanting me to be able to overcome this, but sometimes life is more complicated than a + b = c." Or as my youngest sister would say, "I don't need you to try and fix me, I just want you to listen." It reminds of this video that my dad showed me, "It's Not About the Nail". It cracks me up because while it seems to me that this video is trying to highlight the differences between how men and women communicate, I totally identify WAY MORE with the guy in this video than I do the girl.