Patience is a tricky discipline that we
so easily discard in our lives. The sermon yesterday focused on a promise
fulfilling God. We learned from the stories in the Old Testament that God’s
timing for keeping his promises do not necessary correlate with our own timing.
Unfortunately, our society has become used to receiving our fast food, well,
fast. Patience, it seems, has been readily disregarded in exchange for “efficiency”
or “entitlement.” We feel that we deserve to be treated according to how we
feel is the correct way and the correct time. Some practical ways we see this
is in our need for better things. We need the new iPhone now. We can’t miss the
early train. We must receive our shipments today. The restaurant meal is too
slow. Our lives are captured by “business hours” as though each day loss could
cost millions of dollars. We feel that something that “takes forever” is a great
loss to us.
One Sunday, my wife and I were running a
little late for Church as we walked down our hill in an effort to catch the train
from Ichibu station. Our house is located roughly fifteen minutes away and thus
usually takes some time management to effectively catch the train. Being that I
am a person who likes scheduling things, I was a little worried that we were
going to miss the train. Sure enough, we arrived at the station precisely as
the train was pulling away. We had to wait another fifteen minutes before the
next train arrived. My frustration was
not hidden well in my words and my wife noticed. I was about to lash out when I
realized something. That day was one of the first days it cooled down from the
overheated Nara summer and the sunlight cast through the trees created a still
early Autumn morning. My wife was beautiful as always and my daughter smiled
cheerfully as they sat on the platform waiting for the train. My words that I
was going to speak could have ruined this gorgeous, God created morning and for
what? My “objective” which I thought was more important than the “stage” God
had set. I thank God for stopping me. I could have completely missed that
wonderful fifteen minutes God had orchestrated to sit and enjoy my family.
Sometimes our objectives are not God’s. Sometimes
our timing is not God’s. Patience is a virtue in which we “get to” exercise in
order to enjoy life. We truly don’t need the new, hot item, the food to arrive
now, receive something in the mail today, nor catch the earliest train. We don’t
need to hear the answer from your friend, go to the mall nor get our “alone
time” now. My wife states that this last point is a hard one. As a mother of an
infant, she feels as though she is in a rush to get the baby to bed in order to
have her “own time.” She feels impatient when the baby does not operate on her
time.
This lack of patience in our society has
had grievous consequences. We have people in major debt, divorces and generally
anger filled people due to not being able to wait it out. People cannot control
their emotion and fights break out between friends, couples and family members.
Again, for what? So that we can get the hottest item? To manipulate our
relationship in the way which pleases us?
God operates on ‘God time’ precisely so
he can teach us. In fact, we don’t have this patience naturally, that we have
to exercise it in order to gain the skill. If you observe a baby, this is
readily apparent. The baby is constantly in need and crying to be fulfilled in
his or her own terms. Each biblical character we talked about yesterday, Noah,
Abraham and Gideon were tested in their patience and faithfulness. They learned
to exercise it in order to see the bigger picture, God’s picture. Will you exercise
this patience so you won’t miss a great morning?
