Dancing with Patience and Grace

And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 1 Thessalonians 5:14

Some of us might read this week’s passage and think, perhaps cynically, “Oh is that all we have to do, just be patient with everyone? No problem!”

This seems impossible because you focused only on the last part of his plea. Yes, Paul did say to be patient with everyone because patience is a powerful gift of the Spirit. God’s patience is infinite. Yours and mine are limited, and that limit varies depending on how well we’ve slept or eaten. Connecting with each other in patience, however, invariably results in better communication, and empathy.

What the apostle Paul is not telling the folks in Thessalonica is to ignore opportunities to build up our brother or sister.

Is the man sitting beside you wasting his God-given talents or, conversely, using them to stir up problems (intentionally or not) in the church community? Love doesn’t mean you should leave people where they are. Love, in the context of living the Kingdom life with each another, means doing or saying, with Love, what might be necessary to help this man see what he might be doing (or not doing), and walk with him as he turns in new, better directions.

Has the woman you’re studying with over coffee been feeling discouraged? Has she hit a place in her life where she’s walked away from her first love: that excited, euphoric state of yearning to be closer to Jesus and do His will?

Is the man or woman in these examples you?

In a world populated by human beings that are far from perfect, people will struggle for the strength to find their way sometimes. They don’t always have the will or tools to fully realize their God-given potential, or to discover what their Calling from Jesus might be as they follow him. Sometimes this person is us, and we pray that someone might come alongside us, offer good advice, lend a hand, or simply listen. When we’re on top of the world and feeling like whatever God says, we’re there in full metaphorical armor, a part of our calling as followers is to come alongside others who might be stepping more uncertainly, share advice, lend a hand when one is needed, or simply listen.

Imagine all of this as a dance, a sharing back and forth: giving away the Love Jesus gifted to us, and receiving it gratefully back from others. Dancing is rarely graceful when we first learn the steps, but if we practice every day, with patience and Grace, it can truly be a beautiful thing to see.