Patience

I was in the grocery store near my office the other day and I noted a woman who was in a hurry. She had a few items in her hands and her whole manner radiated impatience – shifting her weight from foot to foot, casting sharp glances at the other checkout lines, shaking her head, mumbling in frustration, biting her lip, looking disgusted and annoyed.

This shopper was a living example of the dictionary definition of impatience: “uneasy, intolerant and unwilling to be kept waiting.”

Sometime, we are forced to wait, however and for many of us waiting is almost impossible. Few things annoy us more than traffic jams, bureaucratic red tape or when an important letter or decision does not arrive.

We all know that in traffic jams or airline ticket counters a line we’re not in is the line that moves fastest. Some people constantly dart back and forth from one line to another.

I know I have done this at times.

I’ve thought about that woman in the supermarket. Why was she so impatient? Was there a good reason for her to be in such a hurry? Did her impatience spill over into her manner of living when she left the store with her purchase? Was it her total life style?

The Bible mentions impatience frequently. God’s Word instructs us to wait and we are given exhortations to be patient.

But how do we do this? How do we handle our tendencies to be impatient?

We learn patience first by changing our attitudes and the way we look at life.

We admire punctuality, value good organization and time management, condemn ourselves when we procrastinate or are late and sometimes complain about wasting too much time.

We expect on the spot, up to date reports from the new media. College students try to hurry through school and are praised when they rise rapidly in the business world after graduation.

As Christians, we get impatient too. We admire growth in the Church, we like to hear of numerous baptisms and we get impatient when our spiritual growth is slow.

We must remember that quality and not quantity is more important in our Christian growth. Quality requires patience.

Here’s an example of striving to make quality time work the first time. On our bulletin board here at work is posted a sign that says “There’s never enough time to do it right but it seems there’s always time to do it over again.”

To create quality time in our live, we must change our thinking. And that isn’t easy, especially when we’ve spent a lifetime learning to be impatience. We really only learn patience by seeking and asking for God’s help (read James 5:7, 8).

We develop patience as God’s Holy Spirit works in our daily lives to bring peace and to make us more like Him.

Remember the verse, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace …” and what else? “Patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22, 23).

The ability to accept delay or disappointment. To smile at setbacks and respond with a pleasant, understanding spirit. To remain calm while others around are uneasy. This is godly patience.

We can ask God to help us develop the patience He desires and we can expect that He will answer. Remember, however, that this prayer may not be answered quickly.

A great biblical example of patience was Abraham.

Abraham believed that God would be true to His promise of giving him and his wife Sarah a son but the couple got impatient.

When Abraham was 86 and Sarah was in her mid-70s, well beyond menopause, they took matter into their own hands. Well, we know the rest of the story (read Genesis 16).

At first this seemed like an effective way to hurry God along and get things done. But his taking of Sarah’s handmaid, Hagar, was followed my marital friction and tension. The end result of Abraham’s impatience was stress, signs of immaturity and intolerance.

God helped the family straighten things out and He forgave Abraham for his impatience.

Then do we remember what happened?

Nothing.

For 14 years Abraham and Sarah waited, still without children. They might have been in a hurry but God was not. He showed the patience that Abraham lacked.

What about us when it comes to long overdue healing, that job promotion or the reconciliation with a loved one? Are we practicing godly patience?

Sometimes God give us patience by making us wait. We cannot expect to have everything easy in this life. “In this world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). Paul exhorted us that “we must through many tribulations enter the Kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).

We must patiently endure hardships and heartaches until Christ returns. Whether they be small frustrations or large, we need to do as James exhorted: “You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” (James 5:8).