Patience
I am not a very patient person. God is working with me on this, but he's been working with me for about forty years and I'm still not doing very well (I did pretty well my first 10 years or so). Thank goodness God is patient.
I am impatient in traffic. That's probably the worst. I try and remind myself that no amount of maneuvering is going to save me any significant time. Anyway, what's the worst that can happen - I'll be late for something or other and life will go on. It's not worth the aggravation or the risk! I'm still working on it.
I am impatient in grocery lines, or any lines for that matter. I think God definitely has a sense of humor because whenever I change lines to get through more quickly - that line always slows down and I find I would have been better off to have stayed where I was. I can just see God chuckling away.
I am impatient around getting things done. As I sit and write this it is raining outside and is forecast to rain for the next week or so. Hey, we have a courtyard to complete - no more rain! I love what we are doing with the courtyard. When it is finished it is going to be fantastic! But I wanted it done by Easter and now because of the weather, that won't happen. So what, I have to remind myself, it will be ready for next Easter … and the Easter after that and the Easter after that.
Another part of my impatience that gets in my way is being impatient with time. I like to have everything planned out in advance so I don't waste time. Our vacations are planned out to get the maximum experience. Up early and on the go. No time to just be lazy and relax - how can we relax, we might miss something! It is so bad that my Spiritual Director made me promise to plan in some "down time" into my Hawaiian vacation so I could rest and recoup. That made my wife very happy. I'm not sure when I'll be able to fit that in - there is so much to do and see in Hawaii! But Hawaii will be there after we leave and as far as I know it won't go away any time soon. If I miss something I can always go back.
We live in a time and age, especially here in Silicon Valley, where everything is rush, rush. We are impatient with all sorts of things - work, kids, parents, job, faith, and the list goes on and on.
The oft quoted prayer goes something like: "Lord, give me patience and give it to me NOW!!!" We want God to bless us with answers …now. We want God to increase our faith … now. We want God to heal us … now.
The truth is that with patience comes wisdom. When we take time to stop and smell the roses we find that roses actually smell sweet. When take time to relax and not push ourselves so hard we find that life is more enjoyable. It is not always about the destination, often the real value is in the journey - but only if we take the time to notice it.
I am learning slowly. When we slow down and maybe even simplify our lives we find that we now have time for our kids, time for our spouse, time for our God. What could be more important than that? Patience is a virtue, not a curse. I guess the hardest thing to be patient with is myself. Self inflicted, no doubt. But if God can be patient with me all this time, I guess I should be patient with myself.
I hope you can be too. It will do the body good.
Have a great month and as always, I'll see you on Sunday!
Pastor Tom |
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