“I
have made impatience a virtue. I call it
urgency, a let’s-get-it-done attitude… (However) it is not a quality that
serves me well. Most things that matter
take time. They cannot be forced or
rushed. They can only be treasured and
savoured, or else missed entirely” – Mark Buchanan.
I probably do not have to convince you that most of us are impatient. All you have to do is watch people waiting for the train to get through town, or see them in a long line at the grocery store to know that we do not like to wait. In fact, last week someone in my house complained that the microwave was taking too long. Think about that for a minute. We have a device that heats food in three minutes and that is still too long to wait!
While we wish we could hurry things along, especially bad things, the truth is that most circumstances just take time. Often, pushing and forcing things only makes the issue worse. I have found that out the hard way while working on cars. The nut or bolt that you determine to “force out” often breaks leaving you with a worse situation than the original problem. A little patience often saves a lot of pain.
Obviously, people require our patience as well. No one is in the same place as you. We all come from different backgrounds and experiences, so it makes sense that we are going to have to, as Ephesians says, “Be patient, bearing with one another in love” (verse 2).
I once read an article about an antique motorcycle ride in Northern Saskatchewan. It was called “Geezers on Wheezers”. The ride has only one rule: The pace is set by the slowest bike. Everyone will go as far and as fast as the slowest one in the group. I like that! If we treated everyone with that same sort of consideration, we would really have something.
Now, being patient does not mean sitting around and doing nothing. Rather, biblical patience is the idea that I am going to do what I can and then I am going to wait and trust God to work out the rest. It may not all come out the way I want and it certainly may not be easy, but, in time, a resolution comes.
The key is to trust that God is at work in all circumstances and with all people. That, in turn, will allow us to focus on this day and to see the beauty that is around us right now.
“Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31)
I probably do not have to convince you that most of us are impatient. All you have to do is watch people waiting for the train to get through town, or see them in a long line at the grocery store to know that we do not like to wait. In fact, last week someone in my house complained that the microwave was taking too long. Think about that for a minute. We have a device that heats food in three minutes and that is still too long to wait!
While we wish we could hurry things along, especially bad things, the truth is that most circumstances just take time. Often, pushing and forcing things only makes the issue worse. I have found that out the hard way while working on cars. The nut or bolt that you determine to “force out” often breaks leaving you with a worse situation than the original problem. A little patience often saves a lot of pain.
Obviously, people require our patience as well. No one is in the same place as you. We all come from different backgrounds and experiences, so it makes sense that we are going to have to, as Ephesians says, “Be patient, bearing with one another in love” (verse 2).
I once read an article about an antique motorcycle ride in Northern Saskatchewan. It was called “Geezers on Wheezers”. The ride has only one rule: The pace is set by the slowest bike. Everyone will go as far and as fast as the slowest one in the group. I like that! If we treated everyone with that same sort of consideration, we would really have something.
Now, being patient does not mean sitting around and doing nothing. Rather, biblical patience is the idea that I am going to do what I can and then I am going to wait and trust God to work out the rest. It may not all come out the way I want and it certainly may not be easy, but, in time, a resolution comes.
The key is to trust that God is at work in all circumstances and with all people. That, in turn, will allow us to focus on this day and to see the beauty that is around us right now.
“Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31)
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