The other day I was driving to work and for some reason was in a rather impatient frame of mind. The roads were fairly busy and yet the car driver in front of me was leaving a large gap between them and the next car in front. As we drove along in a rather stop start manner, what first seemed odd became infuriating. At one traffic light junction the car behind me couldn’t get in to the filter lane to turn left because of the ridiculous gap they were leaving!
It was only at this junction when the lights went green and we all started to turn right that I noticed the car in front of the one I perceived to be leaving a big gap was pulling a long, low trailer. The car in front of me wasn’t leaving a gap at all, they just weren’t crashing in to the trailer. Until that point though, I couldn’t see what they could see. I was just frustrated with what was in front of me.
Let us go to God in prayer
Lord, so often in life we get annoyed and frustrated at the little things in life, the everyday occurrences that don’t really matter but wind us up. Lord give us patience, give us more patience each day. Remind us to pause, to breathe, to take a moment to simply bless all those around us in that moment rather than cursing and allowing stress to drive us.
Heavenly Parent may we be people of love and patience, courtesy and empathy, understanding and grace. May we find new ways each day to express these values, Heavenly Parent when we feel impatient, when we sense frustration building in us, may we let that situation be an opportunity to practice more patience, more courtesy, more empathy, more understanding and more grace.
Holy Spirit so often we get annoyed because we are limited in what we see, in what we can interpret from what is going on around us. Fill us with the wisdom to remember that there is always more going on than what we can discern in that moment. We are limited to our experience of the world, remind us that each of us is experiencing the world differently, each of our view points is of value, and it is only when we stop for a minute and try and find a new perspective that we might see the long view.
Jesus, give us opportunities each day to see something in a new light. May we be curious, may we always wonder what else might be happening in a given situation. May we be quick to explore and slow to judge.
When others get cross and annoyed at us, Jesus remind us that they may not be able to see what we can, their view is blinkered by their surroundings, their experience. May we show love and patience to those who get cross and angry at us and in doing so may we be a blessing to them.
Amen
The Unexpected Prayer 