The day I had yesterday reminded me of a quote I read somewhere recently: “God gave my parents a lot of patience. I wish I hadn’t used up so much of it.” I suspect quite a few of us can relate.
And on days like yesterday, I sometimes wonder if I’m doing or have done the same thing with God. Because I have a confession to make: I tend to visualize God with very human reactions.
I know that’s not “theological.” God isn’t sitting in heaven behaving like an exasperated parent who has finally had enough. In fact, not much about that sentence is theologically sound. But I can’t help it. I don’t think any of us can help it. We think about God in human terms because that’s all we know.
Still, sometimes I imagine God looking at me and one of my escapades and simply shaking his head. Other times, I imagine God laughing. And, on those particularly memorable occasions, I admit that I picture God putting his head in his hands and wondering, “Really? She’s doing this again?” I don’t actually believe God is banging his head against the walls of heaven when he thinks of me.
But I do believe I’ve given God plenty of opportunities.
And that’s where the quote reveals truth. Because human patience, even the patience of loving parents, has limits. We get tired of explaining the same thing. We get frustrated when someone makes the same mistake again (and again and again). We can get to a point where we think, I’ve given you enough chances.
Because that’s how our experience of patience works, it’s easy to imagine that God’s patience must work the same way.
But Scripture gives us a very different picture. Again and again, we hear that God is “slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”
God doesn’t keep a running tally of how many times we’ve messed up. Nor does God have a ceiling on forgiveness. God’s patience isn’t like ours. And thank God for that. Because if God’s patience were limited to the amount I deserve, I’d have exhausted it a long time ago.
The good news is that we don’t use up God’s patience. We don’t eventually receive a divine notification that says, “You have used 99% of your available grace. Please upgrade your subscription.” There’s simply grace. Abundant grace. Boundless grace. Offered again. And again. And again.
That doesn’t mean, by the way, that God doesn’t care about what we do. Grace isn’t indifference. God wants us to improve – do better, be better. Grow in faith. Become more like Jesus. But God’s patience means our failures don’t have to get the final word. We can learn. We can ask for forgiveness. We can try again. We can laugh at some of our foolishness, be sorry for some of our mistakes, and get back up when we’ve fallen.
And perhaps that’s what we need to remember this morning. God already knows your story. God knows the things that make you laugh, the things that make you cringe, the things you wish you could do over. God knows all the ways you’ve gotten it wrong. And knowing all of that, God hasn’t walked away.
Maybe I do make God shake his head in some divine way at some of my escapades. But when I stumble, God is still there. When I get it wrong, grace is still there. When I need another chance, another chance is still there. God’s love never goes to zero.
Which is fortunate. Because, apparently, I’m still pretty good at testing the theory. And so, I imagine, are you. So, today, when you have one of those “moments” that would try the heart of a saint, laugh at yourself, pick yourself up, thank God, and move on. Make it a beautiful day!
