#devotionalwithhaleyandjames

Word #11 - PATIENCE

»James

Q1 - Does today’s society and way of living encourage us to be patient?

A1 - I honestly don’t think so. Society encourages us with our impatience and fuels the fire of our impatience by its ever evolving means of service and technology. Technology is made faster and efficient and services offer consumers several new means to make their experience faster and smoother. With the boom in drive-thrus, fast food restaurants, express checkouts at supermarkets, instant video downloads and streaming, etc. it is easy to see how society and ways of living has become one of the major reasons for our ever developing impatience these days.

Q2 - Discuss activities that require an incredible amount of patience.

A2 - There are so many activities in our modern times that require a lot of extra patience but I would say one of the most important are relationships. There is a reason for why there are so many break-ups and divorces these days. People hardly invest time into getting to know the other person and instead say things like “We fell in love at first sight” and probably would even (if they are into extremes) end up getting married the next day. What they fail to realise is that they hardly took any time at all to get to know their partner better and understand them. This lack of understanding leads to problems that will end up with an unhealthy relationship.

Building relationships require crazy amounts of patience and that in turn leads to a relationship that is fruitful, long lasting and most importantly - Godly.

Q3 - Why does Scripture teach us that patience is such a vital part of our faith?

A3 - This is because to have faith means we also need to have patience. Without patiences Faith is not able to work out well as it should. We need to learn that everything is possible with God but that does not mean he would fulfill his promise for our lives instantly. We need to be patient because God’s time is most certainly the right time.

  »Haley

Q1 - Does today’s society and way of living encourage us to be patient?

A1 - I’d have to say that society does not encourage us to be patient in life. We live in a society that is a “go go go” society, and if we don’t have things done and ready when we want them too, when get annoyed. James and I were talking about laptops today, and how they all have different processors for making them go slow or fast, and it got me thinking that we live in a society that always wants things fast, and if we don’t have that it becomes an inconvenience to us, and we get frustrated as to why everything isn’t working in the way we want them. I wish it wasn’t that way though, because I truly do believe that if we are patient, God will give us what we need, and the outcome will be even better than we had expected.

Q2 - Discuss activities that require an incredible amount of patience.

A2 - Well, this is such a broad question because you could say anything in life can require an incredible amount of patience - it all depends on the person and how patient they can be. But to point out a specific activity, I would have to say it would be relationships. So many of us jump into things too quickly assuming and expecting too much from each other when we may not know them well enough. If we don’t take the time to be patient with others, do you really think you have a good relationship with them?

Q3 - Why does Scripture teach us that patience is such a vital part of our faith?

A3 - I believe that Scripture teaches us that patience is a vital part of our faith, because it can help bring us closer to God in the end, as well as on the journey. Also having faith means to have patience. It’s a way of testing our faith and seeing whether or not we can stick through and come closer to God more than we were before. I believe it also teaches us, that no matter what, God’s timing is always right. It may be hard to grasp because as humans, we want what we want, and we want it now basically. Most of us aren’t patient enough to wait things through. In all, God knows what’s best, and to be patient like He is with us, can help us increase our faith and trust in Him.

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Category: Devotional with Haley & James (#wtsdevo) by Walk the Same

Devotional Series: 30 Words by Jarrid Wilson

Word #9 - Compassion

>> James

Q1 - When is the last time you cried over someone going through a tough time?

A1 - The most recently I have been upset over someone was my best friend who was serving as a missionary abroad. For a while he was going through a stormy relationship that brought him down to depression which he had never suffered from before. Having been best friends for a while, we have gone through a lot of things together and not being able to be there for him while he was hurting made me tremendously upset.

Q2 - Describe an opportunity you’ve had to be compassionate toward someone in need.

A2 - Recently when disaster struck the Philippines, seeing the aftermath of the whole incident brought me a lot of compassion for them as I couldn’t imagine what they would’ve been going through. Our church partnered up with World Vision and together all of our church family joined in to gather resources and aid which we spent days and nights packing and finally shipping them off to the Philippines. It was such an amazing opportunity to share our thoughts and prayers for them going through the tragedy of loss.

Q3 - Do you believe Christians today are compassionate enough?

A3 - I would say to a certain degree yes! But I personally believe that we as Christians have room to be much more compassionate towards other and my hope and prayer is that Christians would show more compassion to those around them who need it the most. A lot of people only show compassion in order to make a name for themselves. This does not count towards compassion but is mere deception. Especially during these times, I believe that being compassionate goes a long way towards helping one another.

>> Haley

Q1 - When is the last time you cried over someone going through a tough time?

A1 - The last time I cried over someone going through a tough time was in October at a Fall Retreat with my youth group. It was the final night of our youth retreat, and we had this thing called an ‘After Glow’, where we reflect on what God has taught us throughout the weekend, and what burdens we were holding onto. We were all sitting in a big circle around a cross with some candles, and all I could notice was one of my friends just bawling across from me. I couldn’t take it anymore at the time, and I went to go hug him, and try to give him some comfort. When I started hugging him, he just started to bawl more, and I joined along with him. I couldn’t handle seeing this guy who’s always happy, just bawling over something. I knew something was wrong, and it scared me that something was horribly wrong by the way he was crying. I love him, and seeing him so broken, broke me.

Q2 - Describe an opportunity you’ve had to be compassionate toward someone in need.

A2 - It wasn’t actually toward someone in need (but you could argue, that everyone is in need). The girl that I had compassion for at the time is a fellow classmate of mine. These two girls were talking to her, and as they walked away from her, they started saying rude things and ridiculing her, and making jokes about the fact that she was so pissy meant that she was pregnant, again.. Me, overhearing these two girls talking about one of my classmates was naturally offended by it, so I spoke up. I walked past them, and basically summed up of what I said was that it didn’t matter what was true or not, the fact that they were ridiculing her was rude.

Q3 - Do you believe Christians today are compassionate enough?

A3 - Sadly, I don’t think we are as compassionate as we may like to believe. Many people do things out of pride, and not the “goodness of their heart”, while others feel as though they are better than some and they want to “help” people who they look down upon, making themselves look better in the eyes of others. We have room to grow, and I believe that with Christ we can grow our compassion to a much greater level.

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Category: Devotional with Haley & James (#wtsdevo) by Walk the Same

Devotional Series: 30 Words by Jarrid Wilson