I occasionally suffer with bouts of impatience! Of late, I've had several such occasions. As luck (this has to be a "God thing") would have it, our children at church are learning this month about the importance of the virtue PATIENCE! God does have a sense of humor, in case you wondered.
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.
"I don't have time" seems to be the refrain sung by so many of us today. I hear it from myself, among my colleagues, from the kids at school, at home - everywhere! We have gotten ourselves so busy doing stuff that we have reached a state of such fatigue that we really don't have time for what matters. Even when we do try to find the time for what's important, we give those things - and people - only a fraction of our attention because we're so frazzled and have our mind on everything we aren't doing that needs to be done!
If anyone had a legitimate right to say, "I don't have time," it was Jesus. He was busy! He was sent to save the world and disciple a group of men and women to lead the Church once he left for Heaven, yet he still took time for his friends.
I think we can safely argue that Jesus's friends were not limited to that small band of men he traveled around with. In other words, if Jesus had Facebook or Twitter, his friend list would have been astronomical! Therefore, when Jesus set the example for friendship by taking time to invest deeply in his friends, he was expecting that we do the same. In fact, Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) to point out that everyone is our "neighbor," not just those people who fit into our social set.
In John 21, Jesus meets with his disciples one last time before ascending to Heaven. After a night of fishing but not catching anything, the disciples were headed into shore. Jesus, whom they didn't recognize, was standing on the beach and told them to cast their nets again. They did and brought up a net-load of fish. Then the disciples recognized him (he'd done this for them once before). Peter jumped into the water and headed straight for Jesus. When the others joined them, Jesus prepared breakfast. Jesus took care of their physical hunger and then attended to matters of the heart.
Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him. Each time, Peter professed his love, and each time Jesus commanded Peter to feed or shepherd his sheep. The interesting thing about this exchange is that the first two times Jesus questioned Peter regarding his love, Jesus used the form of the word love that implies deep spiritual love, obedience to God's commandments because of that love. Peter affirmed each time his affection, using the lesser meaning of the word, fondness. The last time Jesus asked, he too used the weaker of the two definitions, but I don't think it's because he doubted that Peter loved him at the much deeper, spiritual level. Peter's self-confidence was deeply shaken; he'd betrayed Jesus. The incredible thing about Jesus, though, is that he knew Peter, beyond appearances, and called him to shepherd his sheep, to lead the Church. Jesus knew that Peter would have that deep abiding love for his Savior that would cause him to be obedient and devote his life to serving God and others.
As a Christ-follower, we are commanded to be a friend like Jesus. That means we are to love God and love others (Matthew 22:37-39). That takes time! It's messy! It's sacrificial! It's risky! It's nothing short of what Jesus does for us! As we move through our day-to-day lives, we need to evaluate what is taking our time. If those things are keeping us from spending time with the Lord, then we need to re-think their importance. If we are so busy that we can't see the needs of the people around us - our family members, our friends, our colleagues, our fellow Christians, strangers - then we aren't fulfilling what we're expected to do as Christians.
Just as the disciples and early Christians weren't left unequipped to be friends like Jesus, neither are we. In John 14:12-27, Jesus told his disciples that he would send a Comforter, and Helper, for us. He knows our lives, he knows what we have to accomplish each day, and he also knows what he's called us to be in this life - Jesus with skin on. He knows, and he equips. We have to determine to love (agape) him. Then, trust God for the rest - and the rest (Matthew 11:28).
Lord, we are so thankful that when we have lost confidence in ourselves, you haven't. You look past our flaws and see the beauty of your creation and what we can be in you. Thank you for taking the time to lead each of us to a deeper understanding of who you are and who you want us to be. Thank you for your gracious friendship.
Please help us to slow down and be a friend to those around us. Let us see with your eyes and share your love with others. Thank you for the Holy Spirit who equips us to serve you and others. Amen.
