Nehemiah 9:16 (The Message) 16-19 But they, our ancestors, were arrogant;
bullheaded, they wouldn't obey your commands. They turned a deaf ear, they refused
to remember the miracles you had done for them; They turned stubborn, got it into their heads to return to their Egyptian slavery. And you, a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, Incredibly patient, with tons of love— you didn't dump them. Yes, even when they cast a sculpted calf
and said, "This is your god Who brought you out of Egypt," and continued from bad to worse, You in your amazing compassion didn't walk off and leave them in the desert. The Pillar of Cloud didn't leave them; daily it continued to show them their route; The Pillar of Fire did the same by night, showed them the right way to go.
I've spent the past 20 years of my life as a professional communicator. I've had lots of different venues. I find it is much easier to speak to large groups of people who just sit and listen to me than to speak to a few people. I really think the reason is because the large groups tend to not communicate back. But I've worked on how to communicate to individuals, as well. My husband, Tony, can attest to this! :) I've recently been reminded of how much work it is to build relationship with someone and learn how to communicate to them. I'm glad for the prayer that is mentioned in the underlined passage of Nehemiah.
And you, a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, Incredibly patient, with tons of love— you didn't dump them.
There are so so so many times I want to just drop this relationship I'm working on. It seems like they don't even care about the relationship. They twist what has been said. They make me feel like an outcast. They don't even try to see another point of view. Their walls are up and won't let me in. But.....
- God is gracious and compassionate. He doesn't dump me when I don't get what He is saying to me for the 4000th time!
- God is incredibly patient with me. He gives me so many do overs in my life.
- God lavishes more love on me than I can even fathom or receive.
