Patience … what’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of ‘patience’? I know what I think – I think I don’t have much! In our time of immediate gratification, it’s difficult to have patience … difficult to wait! We want it NOW! We want it faster – work faster, get our food faster, drive faster, fall asleep faster, get to Friday faster. We just don’t want to wait.
Many of us, in our lifetime, have known that in order to communicate with someone on the other side of the country involved a pricey long distance phone call or a letter that took about a week to get there. Now, waiting to get on a computer to check e-mail isn’t fast enough – we have e-mail capability on our phones that we carry around constantly. (and then wonder why we don’t have a minute to ourselves – but that’s another ramble!)
I hear far too much ‘Michele, be patient’. And I don’t want to wait. But let me throw a kink in that theory. Let’s associate a different word with ‘patience’ and see if it makes a difference … Trust.
What does trust have to do with patience – much more than you think. We know that God is in control, and we trust Him completely. Patience isn’t so much about not wanting to wait for what we want – it’s about not trusting God to provide in His time – not ours.
What?? No, I trust God – completely. I just don’t want to wait in traffic, or wait in line, or wait on hold. But God knows exactly what He is doing. He has a plan to get us where we need to be, when we need to be there – according to HIS plan, not ours. Impatience is our attempt to interrupt God’s plan because He’s not speaking fast enough for us. It is a lack of trust of God to provide according to His plan – in His time.
The next time someone says ‘Be patient’, don’t think about waiting – think about trusting. Whatever the delay is that is causing us to be impatient, God knows about it. Perhaps there’s a reason that only God’s time will reveal. Perhaps getting stuck in traffic is an invitation from God to have a little chat – when there is nowhere else that you can be. Perhaps missing an exit or making a wrong turn was intentional – to keep you out of harm’s way. Perhaps waiting on hold with the phone company … nope - got nothing there…
But you get the picture – it is all about God’s plan for us. There are delays; there are road blocks, and difficulties that slow us down. Maybe that is His intention. Be patient – trust God to deliver exactly what you need, exactly where you need to be – at exactly the right time.
Many of us, in our lifetime, have known that in order to communicate with someone on the other side of the country involved a pricey long distance phone call or a letter that took about a week to get there. Now, waiting to get on a computer to check e-mail isn’t fast enough – we have e-mail capability on our phones that we carry around constantly. (and then wonder why we don’t have a minute to ourselves – but that’s another ramble!)
I hear far too much ‘Michele, be patient’. And I don’t want to wait. But let me throw a kink in that theory. Let’s associate a different word with ‘patience’ and see if it makes a difference … Trust.
What does trust have to do with patience – much more than you think. We know that God is in control, and we trust Him completely. Patience isn’t so much about not wanting to wait for what we want – it’s about not trusting God to provide in His time – not ours.
What?? No, I trust God – completely. I just don’t want to wait in traffic, or wait in line, or wait on hold. But God knows exactly what He is doing. He has a plan to get us where we need to be, when we need to be there – according to HIS plan, not ours. Impatience is our attempt to interrupt God’s plan because He’s not speaking fast enough for us. It is a lack of trust of God to provide according to His plan – in His time.
The next time someone says ‘Be patient’, don’t think about waiting – think about trusting. Whatever the delay is that is causing us to be impatient, God knows about it. Perhaps there’s a reason that only God’s time will reveal. Perhaps getting stuck in traffic is an invitation from God to have a little chat – when there is nowhere else that you can be. Perhaps missing an exit or making a wrong turn was intentional – to keep you out of harm’s way. Perhaps waiting on hold with the phone company … nope - got nothing there…
But you get the picture – it is all about God’s plan for us. There are delays; there are road blocks, and difficulties that slow us down. Maybe that is His intention. Be patient – trust God to deliver exactly what you need, exactly where you need to be – at exactly the right time.
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