Sometimes I wake up in the morning and I don’t feel creative at all. I have energy to do things – like walk the dog, cook, and so forth – but my mind isn’t full of energy. I have to be patient with myself during those times, because in the end, that spark of creative energy for my daily tasks will show up. Sometimes in an hour, sometimes several hours, sometimes a day or two or even longer.

It is a lot easier to be patient with ourselves when we remember that before we were ever in need, before we ever existed, God was – and is! – patient with us:

The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.

We wake up every day with God’s graciousness around us, compassion from God pouring all over us and around us. Not only that, but the love of God for us is steadfast. It stays with us because God stays with us, steadfastly, faithfully, enduring with us through our leaps of faith and stumbles in growth.

If the Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, good to all, and covering all God has made with compassion, shall we not be kind and patient with ourselves? This wonderful nugget from Psalm 145 alerts us to the fact that the love of God that has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit that has been given to us (Romans 5:5) is the same love that is steadfast, compassionate, gracious, merciful, and good to us.

We are free, we have been reading in Galatians. Free in the grace of Christ. We can go about our days freely, remembering to be patient with ourselves and with others, since God is patient with us. Perhaps we are being critical of ourselves or the ones we love, hard on ourselves for whatever ways we think we fall short. This is not how God loves us. Once again, it’s time to take a deep breath and remember that we walk in the love of God.

Blessings to you all,

Michelle

~ by feast4thought on June 28, 2010.

Posted in Monday Morning Meditation