Show Me Some Patience!

             “Patience!  Show me some patience,” I have thought countless times when people are in a hurry.  Sometimes this happens while waiting at the checkout when there are six people in front of you and one or two people are complaining loudly, that there are not enough cash registers open.  Or, when we are traveling down the road in pouring rain on a double line, and some guy from well behind you, passes you and the next three cars in front of you.  Another instance could be while sitting at a red light, at least the eighth in line and the folks in front of you are taking so long to go, by the time you get to the light, it is red again.  It is here, I am saying to myself, ‘Patience! Show me some patience!’

            I suspect God must say the same thing, when I persist with my requests that I really want answered now!  I can almost hear him say it!  “Patience!  Show me some patience!”  I know that he is sovereign and His time line is not mine.  Yet like the driver who passes too many cars in bad weather, I want to forge ahead even though I haven’t a clue what details need yet to be worked out!

            It’s hard to be patient when you desperately want something to happen, whether it’s health issues that need to be addressed, behavior issues with a child that seem horribly out of control, marital issues that are bombarding, financial problems that grow exponentially, or any other of the myriad kinds of problems any one person can have!  Yet, we are instructed to “Wait on the LORD; be strong and take heart.”  That kind of waiting can take a lot of courage and more often than not, that kind of courage comes through choice.  We must choose to be strong and steadfast in the Lord, knowing he will see to our needs when the time is perfect, and not a moment sooner!

            It’s hard, though, to have patience when it seems like nothing is happening.  In a frantic stupor sometimes we try to take matters into our own hands.  It’s a human thing, and as humans we will ultimately fail. 

            I heard once that “wait” and “weight,” while being spelled completely different and with different meanings, can be closely tied to each other when you look at them through spiritual glasses.  When we “wait” on the Lord, we give him the “weight” of the problem.  When we do this, the waiting is so much less painful because we can know He will tend to the matter at hand in the best possible way, and in the best possible time, with the least possible bad consequences. 

            When we get impatient, like the driver who pulls out to pass several vehicles, oblivious to the solid yellow line or threatening weather, the consequences can be deadly.  The same is true when we attack matters through human means.  We can’t know the outcome of our choices like God.  When we trust him, while waiting on him, we can know he will under-gird us with His power and strength.  And while the answer may not be exactly as we wanted, or planned and the timing may not be just when we wanted, we can know we have a God who is in control of our lives and wants nothing more than to fill our lives with all that is good, as we grow in Him.

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.   Psalm 27:14