Truthfully, I have learned to be patient about a lot of things and with lots of people. I can wait for Christmas and have no problem waiting patiently for my birthday to arrive. I can put off purchasing items I can't afford until I can afford them or the desire to have them passes. I have incredible patience with my precious 2-year old granddaughter. In fact, my daughters probably wonder who this woman is! I'm sure they don't recall the same calm "indulgence" as they were growing up. My patience with other people's teenagers is truly a thing of wonder! But, I have great difficulty standing in line at Wal-mart waiting for the cashier to figure out whether she's charging for parsley or cilantro. Sitting in traffic is far from my favorite way to spend time, and waiting in the doctor's office, when I've taken out time from my busy day and arrived as scheduled months ahead, puts me around the bend.
Patience just isn't something that comes naturally to any of us, but if we are going to grow in our relationship with the Lord and be obedient to Him (Galatians 5:22-23), it's sure something we need! I was curious about how many times we are told in the Bible to "wait on the Lord" or to have patience. Being impatient, I decided rather than try to count them all from my Bible concordance, I'd do what any 21st century learner does, I'd Google it. That only furthered my impatience. The number of random hits was in the millions - really! So, scanning my concordance once again, I confirmed that there are lots of places where we are told to "wait" or to be patient!
Certainly we have plenty of Biblical examples of individuals who chose not to wait. Esau, twin brother to Jacob, is a great one. Esau, the eldest twin and a hunter, gave up his birthright for a bowl of lentil soup prepared by his younger twin, Jacob (Genesis 25:24-34). You'd think being a hunter that Esau would have patience, but apparently, like many of us, he had patience for some things but not all. He gave away something of great value in a moment of weakness; he was in a hurry to fill his belly and didn't stop to think of the lasting and monumental consequences of his impatience.
I have to stop myself when I begin to get all self-righteous about Esau being so dumb! I have been Esau. There have been times in my life when I was in a hurry to have what I thought I wanted. Every time that I failed to seek God's plan or rushed ahead and gave him assistance, I messed up and paid a high price. Thankfully, after far too many experiences like this, I am beginning to learn the importance of waiting on the Lord's time and plan (James 1:4).
As adults who have the responsibility for teaching children and young people the value of patience, we really do need to allow God to develop it in us (I Timothy 6:11). It's an ongoing process. If we are to have credibility when we tell our children to wait or be patient, they need to see us exercise patience (Psalm 37:7; Psalm 52:9; Lamentations 3:26).
Waiting isn't easy. We live in a "hurry up" culture with a "got to have it now" way of thinking. We aren't encouraged to be still and know God (Psalm 46:10) , to meditate on his word (Joshua 1:8) and seek his purposes. But if we want to avoid making the kinds of mistakes that we may regret, we must seek to learn patience - and God is a "learn by doing" kind of teacher. He will put us right in the middle of a situation where we have to choose to rely on him and be patient or rely on our own wisdom and rush ahead of him (Romans 5:3).
So, as I deal with my case of impatience, I am learning to wait, wait, and wait some more. The experience has been hard but not impossible, and I do think I'm gaining strength to be patient. As my mom pointed out, God planned an 11-day trip for the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. Because of their impatience, the trip took 40 years! I am learning to wait so the trip is a short one!
Heavenly Father, thank you for your patience with me. I'm so glad you don't throw in the towel and give up on me when I'm so slow to learn or when I am willful and disobedient. You have given all of us the ability to be patient, and you know it's in our best interest that we learn to wait on you. Please help us to rely on your Holy Spirit and your strength to develop patience to wait for your perfect will and timing in our lives. Give us the wisdom to teach our children to wait on you and follow as you lead them. Thank you for being such a loving and patient teacher. Amen.
