Most of us are content with impatience or even see patience as a weakness. Waiting too long at a restaurant is foolish. Waiting more than 90 seconds at the grocery checkout is a cosmic injustice. Going at the pace of a child is akin to taking a stroll with a slug. One of the most common appeals for sympathy is, "I had to wait," as if we can think of nothing worse.
Most of our impatience has to do with not getting what we want fast enough. We want it and we want it now. The cultural message for patience is that by being patient, someone is likely to take advantage of you. But what if we see patients as waiting on the fullness of God to be revealed or for the nature of our relationship with the world around us to be fully realized.When the time comes, God moves. The point of patience is not to wait without complaining for what we want to get, but to wait expectantly for what God wants to give.
This is Dr. Scott Morris for Church Health.
