Patient

Another thing I wish I were. I am definitely working on it. I am making a conscious effort to be patient with people. I'm just so time motivated that it makes it sooo hard. I just have to keep my reminding myself that people and relationships are more important than time. It sounds like that's easy, but not for me. I am very task driven. Thus, sometimes having to talk to someone for an extra five minutes can start to really frustrate me. It's stupid. I know. But, that's why I have Jesus to rely on. I can't be patient on my own. 2 summers ago as a camp counselor, me and my girls talked about 3 steps to Christianity. #1, accepting Christ into your life. #2, choosing to serve the Lord even when you don't want to aka transforming your actions or outward appearance and #3 transforming the inside, so that you want to serve people instead of feeling like you have to. You can't skip #1 to get to 2 or 3. It's so true. Many times, you aren't going to want to do something, but you still need to choose to do it anyways. Eventually, the closer you get to the Lord, the more natural it will become and you'll want to do those things because you're serving Him.

Isaiah 20
Summary: Sign against Egypt and Ethiopia
My take: Well, this chapter's a bit tough to try to apply it to my life being only 6 verses about what's going to happen to Egypt and Ethiopia, but I do like how it is pointed out how faithful Isaiah has been.
v. 3 "Then the Lord said, "Just as My servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign..." Man, I want to be that much of a servant, too. If Isaiah can walk naked and barefoot for three years, I can be patient with my friends. I can love someone I don't feel like loving. I can do it because I am a servant of Christ. It's definitely really humbling to see just how faithful Isaiah was. My pride gets to me a lot and I think that I am this great Christian until you see someone like this and I feel like such dirt comparatively. It just shows we always have growing to do in the Lord. We never arrive. So hard, but so good.

Lord, let me be your servant. Let me serve like Isaiah.