Growth

It seems as if every time I ask God for something, He gives it to me in a way I would not expect or, often times, would not prefer.

Let's take patience, for example.

Patience is something that I lack greatly. Ask anyone who knows me and they will agree. I'm the person who walks up the escalator because it's not moving fast enough. I'm the person who will call you five times within five minutes if I really need to talk to you. I'm the person who sits in the car with the engine running in hopes of speeding everyone else up.

Patience is something I lack. Patience is something I desire. Therefore, patience is something I pray for.

The more I pray for patience though, it seems the more likely I am to be placed into a situation that requires more of it.

Why does God feel that this is necessary? Why can't He just give me what I want and give it to me quickly? Why can't He just cut straight to the point?

I've come to find that God does this because He doesn't want me, or anyone else, to be given the easy way out. Yes, He could just be at our beckon call and grant us everything we ask for immediately. But He often won't. Instead, He sits back and places us in situations that require what it is we are asking for. And through these situations we grow.

We grow in patience. We grow in trust. We grow in compassion. We grow in understanding.

We grow.

In ways we don't necessarily desire. But, rather, in ways that pull us furthest from our own selfish desires.

In His way we grow.