It seems that lately people hear only part of what I say. Maybe it's because I'm boring, they don't think what I'm saying is important, or they just have too much already in their minds that they can only retain part of my words. So what ends up happening is I drive around looking for my son when he is not waiting where I told him we'd meet. Or the bathmat in the basement gets moldy and ruined because it was not hung out to dry as requested. Both situations have caused me to have to work harder than I should, cost me in extra gas, time and expenses, and caused me to become frustrated.
Perhaps I should be angry, but in fact I am not because I am so used to people ignoring some of my words by now. Plus the fact that I just 'look in the mirror' to see how often I fail to remember what others say. Then I also think about how often I've done that to God. He has some believers write a book that tells me how to know Him, how to live, and how to act with others, yet thirty years after starting to read that Book, the Bible, I am still failing to act on many of the things I read.
Though I feel like I've come thousands of miles in knowing Him, I still feel like there's a million more to go. It's a step by step process which seems to go sooo slow at times, and truthfully, a big hindrance has been my own mind: my preconceived notions, my perspectives and my stubbornness in wanting God to be the God I want. What I've discovered is if He was the God I want Him to be, I would not mature very well.
Of course, there's lots of parts I simply don't like and so avoid working on changing. Then there's other things I simply don't do because I don't understand how important they are. As Paul said, "And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway." (Rm. 7:18,19 TLT) so even he understood the war inside of us to live in the Spirit or in the flesh.
Think about the simple words of Jesus, "...that you love one another: just as I have loved you..." (Jh. 13:34 ESV) and how often we fail to do that: such a short command yet so large an act, and often very difficult. I guess that's why we need to keep reading and applying the things we read to our lives- so that we continue to transform (2Cr. 3:18)- change bit by bit until we are complete and mature ready to be with our Savior and God. Until then we must have patience- with God because He chooses not to miraculously change us overnight, with others because they fail just as we do, and with ourselves for God is not finished with us yet (Php. 1:6).
THANK GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!