D Minus

Did you ever have a subject in school that you were really bad at? Like, no matter how hard you tried, you could never really wrap your head around it and excel in it? Or you just squeaked by with a D minus so that you could pass the class and graduate? I feel like that about life sometimes. I know that God gives me tests. Lots of them. Hard ones, easy ones, short ones, long ones. I just wish that sometimes He would give me ones that I was good at - tests that I had a good shot at passing! Today, God tested my patience. He tested it a lot. He gave me so many opportunities today to show that I could be patient. He gave me a message at church this morning about loving my neighbor and realizing that the woman I just called an idiot for driving 35 in the passing lane - well, that lady was made in God's image just like me. And who do I think I am calling that woman an idiot? He put slow drivers on the road today. He put silly questions into the mouths of the people I spoke with on the phone. He put shopping carts in the middle of the aisle at the grocery store. He put lots of cars on line at the gas station. And do you know why He put them there? For me. Just for me. Because I am not a patient person and He wants me to be. He wants me to find peace and be calm and not get agitated by stupid little meaningless things like the wrong price on the fruit rollups. He wants me to realize that stepping in a puddle will not kill me so there is no real reason to be bothered by it. I didn't do too well today, I must admit. I may not have failed the tests, but I certainly didn't pass with flying colors. I need to study harder.