Devotion on patience

Psalms 40:12-13 says, "Troubles surround me--too many to count! They pile up so high I can't see my way out. They are more numerous than the hairs on my head. I have lost courage. Please, Lord, rescue me! Come quickly, Lord, and help me". Only a few verses earlier he proclaimed "I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along." This is a passage from the One Year Book of Devotions, "God is not the God of the quick fix" (which I sure would like), "Neither is he the Lord of the instant...Why, we wonder, does God take his time? No doubt his reasons are many and profound, but perhaps it is because we can only appreciate how solid is the rock he provides when we have thoroughly experienced the mud and the mire." It was a very appropriate reading for today.