Patience & Perception

4/8/08

Has anyone ever taken the time to really understand these words?


Patience

Some of us think it is the ability to put up with something. IN fact it is a lot more than this. Patience as they say IS a VIRTUE, b/c it is so precious to have and aquire. It is so much of a virtue b/c it dictates so much within our lives and our perception of things. It is crucial to understand that HOW WE SEE SITUATIONS/ CIRCUMSTANCES/ even PEOPLE can determine our future. The outcome of our life/ relationships (work or personal) is all based on how well we can SEE or preceive things. It is very hard to SEE when we constantly close our eyes to the possibilities- which is what we do when we lack patience.

Webster says: Patience is to imply qualities of calmness, stability, and persistent courage in trying circumstances.

AND

Perception is a single unified awareness derived from sensory processes while a stimulus is present.

Now- lets break it down...now that we have a broad definition of the 2 terms.. we can make some very clear points regarding each.

Patience in summary is stablity in trying circumstances- being deeply rooted. Being stable means u have a solid foundation. Foundations are very hard to move - even in trying times. Find some objects of stability around you. What is common in these symbols? Most of them are pretty strong aren't they? (Mountains/ Trees/ Brick /Boulders). With that being said, a quality of being patience ALSO involves its cousin which is STRENGTH.

Strength is not to be confused with POWER. A person can be pwoerful but still not be STRONG. Look at airplanes- they are very POWERFUL/SWIFT machines, but when they are in the air and subjected to extremely high winds and turbulence (trying times)- they stay on the ground where it is safe and stable. However, a mountain never moves- a tree with strong roots never moves. Strength resides in the foundation of the subject, which is why GOD's word is definitely a stable foundation to build upon in order to obtain strength.

Patience [in my opinion] now becomes a matter of Strength with the enate persistence/ courage during trying circumstances. Well- whats the difference between this and WILLPOWER. One requires an external spiritual foundation- the other relies on your own body (will) as the foundation which (by itself) is not stable at all.


Perception


Lets move on to Perception which involves our flesh/body. I want to make it clear that perception is not just how we SEE with our eyes. It is also about comprehension of what the senses are exposed to. Perception is the key to our understanding. For instances, a person could be subject to a perception of someone just by "HEARING" good or bad things about that person (praise/gossip). A person could have a perception of someone based on how the other person SMELLS (stinky or fresh). A person can even develop a perception of a certain kind of food based on how it tastes. All in all our senses are the key to PERCEPTION and what we think.

It is therefore very important to guard what u SEE/ HEAR/ and TOUCH- and sometimes TASTE -depending on the situation and the influence it may have on you.


So- how does Patience effect our lives? To dig deeper lets look at any situation that you may have had- lets try ummm dieting/ weight loss. Its very hard to loose weight without patience. When there is a goal set to loose x pounds in x amount of weeks it takes not just WILLPOWER- it takes patience and strength to committ to your goal. Many people dismiss the fact that they just got "weak" or "d o not have the willpower"- it is more than that. Its the lack of strength in being patient and lack of vision to the perception of being thin. Why?
Week 1 goes by no change.. week 2 goes by.. no change. Now there is a negative perception issue b/c the scale is telling our senses- WE STILL HOLDING ONTO THOSE POUNDS. This eats away at a weak foundation of patience.Remeber Patience is a matter of STRENGTH to weather the whatever storm you may have.

Consequently- most individuals do not even set goals- whcih is another blog all in itself lol... Moving on.


Understanding Perception/ Patience


Lets understand how both of these subjects pertain to our spirit walk and even everyday walk. Please know that

Satan's number one weapon against anyone is to make you believe that the grass is not greener on the other side (Bishop Walker). This is nothing more than an attack on your PERCEPTION (your senses). This is SATAN's number one weapon- key weapon at that. If you can understand this you will win MANY a battle with SATAN.


However, Satan will be in your ear saying:

you're never going to get that job
you're never going to own a house
you're never going to get a promotion
you're never going to graduate from school
you're never going to be able to take care of your kids
you're never going to be successful
you're never going to get off drugs
you're never going to stop drinking
you're never going to be loved
you're never going to have friends
you're never going to stop smoking
you're never going to be significant

Or

you dont need to follow authority
you dont need to follow process
you dont need them
you dont need to stop drugs
you dont need to WAIT
you dont need to listen
you dont need to follow
you dont need to stop drinking
you dont need to trust them
you dont need no one
you dont need to be responsible
you dont need to graduate


But if we BELIEVE the LIES- then he has WON.


If you pay close attention, "this inner voice/feeling" can be heard/felt and if u do nothing to combat it- you are subjecting yourself to a personal perception of lies and bondage! If you believe this and allow it to fester, Satan will have succeeded in his mission to attack your senses and your Perception of victory with GOD. To take away your perception of what GOD has promised. Satan will feed you lies and you will have digested them if you allow this to occur. Sooo many people have allowed this to happen-- and sadly enough without even realizing it! This is exactly how Satan got Eve to take of the forbidden fruit. Satan gave her the perception she could be GOD like if she did! Grass being greener (A LIE in the end).... so sneaky. What I am tripped out about is how come Adam ate of the fruit after seeing Eve was not GOD LIKE. .. (different blog lol).

I have understood patience as being not just an ability to wait- but the STRENTGH to endure during hard times. ENDURE b/c SATAN is always at work- ESPECIALLY in hard times!! All the more reason to learn and practice patience- however I can hear people say now- "it is very hard to partice being patient" and It is very difficult. However, we have all been in hard times. We have all been exposed to SATAN, but not all of US have witnessed GOD in our lives and his ability to take control of things.


Next time you have a heavy burden- give it to GOD and let him operate on his time!This is a true test of patience! Let GO and LET GOD.. and I guarantee you will find out what patience is when you can experience this- your perception of patience will change 10 times over!

Next time your patience starts to run out- remember these words that my grandmother would tell me-

"GOD never puts more on us than what we can bear".

It will definitely put things into perspective when it comes to developing patience! :)

Peace

In addition to the BLOG- the scriptures that I (ironically) got at Bible study the next day are:
Romans 5:3-5
Psalm 119:67
Acts 14:22
2 Corinthians 4:17

*Context of the scriptures*

The storms of life help keep us on track with GOD.
Sometimes God can send storms- (not just SATAN)
It takes Hardship for GOD's Kingdom to FULLY emerge in our lives
Struggles and Hardships sift out the impurities in our life
You must have a vision greater than your struggle