Have Patience

Allow me to ease any concerns, my faithful followers, I did not post yesterday due to technical difficulties. My computer froze up and try as I might, using all the tricks I knew to use, I could not make it work. Finally I shut it down manually and went to bed. My patience for the day had been tapped. Ah, patience.

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to celebrate two major events in the lives of two of my closest friends (and Bible study gals). One friend (my cousin) had her very first baby. Up at the hospital on Friday night, I cradled the child in my arms, declared him to be beautiful (which he most certainly is), and shared in the joy of such a wonderful occasion. She told the story of the labor and delivery as we agonized with her and felt the appropriate concern, knowing that she survived the worst of it to become our candid narrator. What a blessing to share her joy.

The other friend allowed me to tag along as she went to buy a wedding dress. (She has less than five weeks before the big day.) We went to a small variety of stores, passing over dresses that cost thousands, embracing (literally) dresses on the sale rack, and finally finding “the one” among the hundreds of others that seemed so very lovely, but just not quite right. As she gazed at herself in the mirror, she knew no other dress would do for that very important day. More blessings. More joy. And more reminders that God is urging me, compelling me, even begging me to be patient.

The psalmist says, “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him.” Paul tells us in Romans that, “tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope.” And, “if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” He says in Colossians, we are “Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; Giving thanks unto the Father.” And I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. The Bible has a lot to say about patience.

As I flesh out this idea of what it means to be a patient person, I begin to wonder exactly what patience looks like. I've heard people say, “Don't pray for patience, that will only bring about trouble.” So instead of patience, we pray for blessings and then get frustrated when we have to wait for them. I can't imagine that's what God has in mind for His people, especially in a culture that caters to the demand for instant gratification. God's people should look, act and believe differently. We're so afraid of “patience” that though we tell our children there is value in waiting, and that tantrums are not acceptable when we don't get what we want when we want it, we often, among other believers, say, “God is teaching me patience” in a way that might as well be “God is teaching my Calculus.” (For those of us who aren't so mathematically inclined.) We'd rather flunk the class and make up those credits in Art or Choir.

I think our real issue is this: We think patience is a feeling that we can't quite accomplish inside ourselves, when in reality, it's an action that forces us to rely completely on God. Patience is something we do. And it's not because it feels so good at the time. It's an act of putting those things we're anxious about purposefully into the hands of God. There are certain things I put into the hands of God about 35,000 times a day. Do I feel patient? No. But when I surrender things to God and take my hands completely off of them, I am allowing for my tribulation to work patience in me, knowing that will work experience, and that experience will work hope. I am being patient without feeling patient. When we say we don't want to pray for patience, it's like saying we don't want to rely completely on God. Ouch. And being impatient is just another way of assuming we don't need God. It's not just a personality flaw, it's a failure to allow God to work His will in our lives. (And now I've gone from blogging to meddling.)

So as I am waiting for those special and particular events to come about in my own life, God is using this time to mold me and make me. He is teaching me to rely fully on Him and to trust Him completely. I'll admit, it's a little scary at times because I'm not really sure what it is I'm waiting for and I'm constantly fighting the urge to want to “help” God. But this is where I place my trust in the divine and sovereign Creator of the universe. Even if it's something as simple as my computer freezing up, I know that God is intimately involved in my life. He is teaching me to be patient, and reminding me of His unfailing patience toward me. What a humbling thought.