Such feelings of inadequacy are more or less inevitable; the question is how we respond. It’s easy to get discouraged and slip into believing that God is constantly disappointed and angry with us. But that is just a bunch of nonsense planted by the enemy.

Stumbling toward Joy

We are double-minded creatures, far from the holiness God is calling us to. However, today’s passage reminds us that God deals tenderly with our weakness. He is not exasperated with us; He is not ready to snuff us out. (Prune, perhaps; snuff out, no.) Nor has He resigned Himself to merely tolerating us.

No, God takes positive joy in His children and in the growing little bits of grace we exhibit. He encourages our stumbling, bumbling efforts to walk, as any father does with his children. Of course, God cannot be mocked. Whoever uses God’s patience as license to sin will find trouble in the end. Yet for those who truly know Him, His patience is the linchpin of our security and salvation. Let His countenance of love be the transforming power in your life.

Bottom Line

Satan is ever whispering words of condemnation in our ears, but we must combat this with the knowledge that God is patient and kind.