I Asked for Patience

Running off at the mouth

Often losing my cool,

Regular thrown tantrums

Like an infant at school.

Consistently encumbered

With foot-in-mouth disease,

Afflicted and tormented

And experiencing no ease.

After all you know me

This is who I am,

If I do I die

And if I don’t I’m damned.

And it was so spontaneous

Just a little would fire me up,

Mash my corns at anytime

And bitterness was your cup.

But I asked for patience

And I got more of the same,

What I wanted to avoid

Came back again and again.

More people annoyed me

More aggravating situations

 Came from every angle,

I was nearing desperation.

Then I began to realize

This was what I asked for

Since asking for patience

Is getting what one abhors.

This was flooding therapy

An unorthodox solution

Of more of the same trials

To get me over my problem.

My problem of impatience

Was due to particular stimuli

And the solution for this my friend

Was an inordinate supply.

  

I thought it would be better

To remove the problem source

But God in His infinite wisdom

Allowed it in greater force.

But it appears to be working

Now I am being cured

Though sometimes it’s very tough

And I wish it were like before.

It was far easier then

My life was not as troublous

So if you ever ask for patience

Expect more trials on purpose.

Patience can only develop

Through the trials one must face,

Think twice before asking

Unless you really want that grace.

I have learnt my lesson well

That’s why I share it with you

Be content with your current trials,

They are easier to go through.

Stewart Russell © February 2019

No Longer A Problem

A problem is no longer a problem

When it is solved,

That challenge is removed

As soon as it is resolved.

It is really not a problem

If you know how to solve it,

Hence a problem solver is one

For whom problems is a habit.

Two plus two is four

And four plus four is twelve

This need not be a problem

If you can read it well.

Tie two t’s to two toes

To tall trees, how many t’s in that?

If your answer is not two

You’ve got a problem; that’s a fact.

Many people are intimidated

By the problems of life:

Some are of their own making

Some result from the daily strife.

Failure to solve life’s problems

Labels one a failure:

That designation is a problem

And paints a dismal picture.

If life is your major problem

Then let me suggest the answer

For all your puzzles and difficulties

Jesus is the problem solver.

Not only is he the answer

To all of life’s big questions

But the little ones and the in between

And those silly nagging problems.

The Way, the Truth, the Life,

The object of our faith and hope;

With Christ as our problem solver

We will always be able to cope.

  

A problem is no longer a problem

When Jesus Christ is on board,

His solutions work every time

And betters any money can afford.

Stewart Russell © December 2018