Longsuffering Liana

Long Suffering. Suffering Long. No matter how you phrase it, it conjures up mental images of pain and quantities of time that seem excessive. 

My life seems to be marked by these long periods of time where I must suffer. And endure. And wait. It seems as if the waiting is the most painful, stressful, agonizing part of it all. And yet it is the characteristic of longsuffering that defines it, makes it what it is.

Many times I find my identity in this title: Longsuffering Liana. And in many ways I loathe this identity. It seems so ugly. So gruesome. As if it is so disturbing that it hurts to look at. As if it makes me an outcast. 

However, I am beginning to see the beauty of it. The breathtaking aspects of a woman waiting. Enduring for a greater good. A higher purpose. To show the awesome, awe-inspiring, can't turn away, dumb-founding beauty of a God who can take one covered in crimson stains and make them white as snow, who can break the chains of addiction, who can change the leopards spots and create a new creation, breathe life into dry, dead bones and set them dancing, who can cause such joy in a king that he would toss aside his pride and image to dance in his underwear at who God is and what He has done and is doing and will do. All for the glory of God.

That's what it's about. That's why I can rest in this trait that marks my days, marks my identity. It's not ugly. It's not a repulsive scar. It's a sign, a marker pointing to my King. Bringing glory to my Lord, the One who saves, redeems and gives the strength and patience needed to allow me to be Longsuffering Liana.