Luke 21:19 – “By your patience possess your souls.” NKJV

I wonder how many who read this have difficulty ‘waiting?’  The inability to wait is an indication of a lack of patience.  Most in today’s modern world have zero tolerance and demonstrate almost no patience, most of the time.  We want what we want yesterday or sooner!  I believe that patience is a character quality that God desires to develop in our lives and is not a spiritual gift.  It is learned then developed and is a process.  It would be like praying for patience and saying, “Lord give me patience and I want it right now!” 

In our technological, fast food, instant everything world we find it virtually impossible to be patient.  How can we possibly teach the oncoming generation the art of ‘waiting’ when we cannot?  I heard about a man that became so angry at dinner over seeds in grapes and laid down the law to his wife that there would be no more grapes with seeds in the house.  She let him rant then asked, “Do you know why the seeds bug you so?”  He sarcastically said, “Of course when I bite into one of them it spreads through my mouth and ruins the taste of the grape.”  She said, “NO!  It is because you are too impatient to dig them out first.  The grapes with seeds actually have a better flavor but they take more time to enjoy!”  I think that is us too often!  We are too busy with busyness to enjoy that which God has provided.  We have such an aversion to waiting that we say, “Let’s do something if we do it wrong!”  WHAT?  That is impatience not progress.

Waiting is a natural and normal part of life and is part of the maturation process whether we like it or not.  We face yellow and red lights as much or more than we see green ones.  Waiting is learning to ‘rest’ in God instead of fretting and worrying.  It is to recline in the arms of God and trust.  It is a skill that is learned not a gift deposited in us.  You can ‘fake’ waiting.  We’ve all done it.  We were a shambles inside but plastic on the outside with our mask on.  We appear peaceful but inside we are a raging storm.  Fake it till you make it won’t work long term!

You probably have heard the story from the Korean War era where some American GI’s rented a house and hired a young Korean to clean, cook, and do their chores.  He had an unflappable positive attitude and was always smiling.  They played tricks on him, nailed his shoes to the floor and he just pulled the nails out and kept smiling. They put grease on the stove handles and buckets of water over the door to soak him and he just kept smiling with never a complaint.  Finally they felt guilty and told him, “We want you to know that we are never going to trick you again.  You have such a great attitude we are ashamed and won’t do it anymore.”  He looked at them and asked, “No more nail shoes to floor?” They assured him no more.  He said, “No more sticky on stove?”  They assured him no more.  He said, “No more buckets of water on door?”  They assured him NO MORE!  He was satisfied and said, “Okay, no more spit in soup.”

If you want to read a beautiful passage on patience read Psalm 62.  We need to learn to ‘wait’ for God to direct our steps.  We need to learn to ‘trust’ God to provide for our needs.  We need to learn to ‘wait silently’ in ‘stillness’.  We need to ‘wait’ in stability and confidence.  They that ‘wait’ upon the Lord renew their strength and we could all use renewed strength from time to time.  We need to mount up with wings as eagles. We need to be able to run and not be weary and walk and not faint.  That comes from WAITING ON THE LORD!

So instead of hurrying into your day pause a moment and ask God to help you learn to wait!  Blessings as you go through your day!