November 6, 2026 Devo

I had to go to Spectrum to get a different cable box. As I waited for my turn, I watched two Spectrum employees work with an older woman who was having difficulty with her internet. I felt bad for the woman because she obviously knew nothing about technology and how it works. Neither did she know several of the important things that the workers needed to help her. Like her password, her security number, or even her cell phone number. She was at the point of tears.
But what was so moving to me was the gracious and patient way the employees dealt with her. No huffs and puffs of disgust. No brushing her off and telling her they couldn’t help her. No making her feel stupid or incompetent. They took their time. Their tone was gentle and quiet. They made her feel as if they had nothing in the world to do than give her all the time she needed. It was one of the most precious scenes of making someone feel valued as a customer that I have ever witnessed.
Later that day, I had to go back to the store to drop my old equipment off. There was someone from the district office going over things with the staff. I walked over and politely interrupted. I gestured toward the two employees who worked with that woman and told the district manager how extraordinary their actions were and how touched I was to observe it. She patted them on the back, beamed a big smile and said, “That’s who we want to be.”
Gracious patience. You don’t see a whole lot of that here on planet earth. That is, unless you look for the Hand of God at work. Then you see it everywhere. Our passage today is a good snapshot of that gracious patience. Even though God’s people rebelled and sinned over and over again, God doesn’t just throw them aside or take them to the Divine Woodshed of His discipline. He woos them. He calls to them. He pleads with them. And He sends prophets to them. All of this was to give them every opportunity to turn around, see the error of their ways, and come home. Even in our deepest and darkest days of sin, He is graciously patient.
I feel the need to thank God for that today. I, for one, have tried the patience of God on more than one occasion. How thankful I am that He didn’t cast me aside or give up on me. In His gracious patience He has taken me back time and again. It also reminded me that maybe I ought to seek to be a little more like God. Maybe, like those two Spectrum employees, I ought to pass along something everyone in the world could use a little more of. Gracious patience. That’s God’s Word for you today.
PS – We’re heading out of the country today and will be gone about 12 days. I won’t be sending or publishing another devotional until November 18th. Keep in His Word while I’m gone! Love you guys!!