“A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.” Proverbs 19:11
There’s a joke in the church that you never pray for patience because God will make you wait. Most of us agree that while patience is something we should all practice, we don’t want to go through the process of cultivating it. We call it a virtue, and make it a high and lofty attitude only the best of us have.
The rest of us would rather be impatient. The anger and frustration we experience when we are impatient makes us feel powerful, as though it can force things to happen when we want them to. When that doesn’t happen and we realize we don’t have power over most circumstances, we start to grumble against God, “When God? When are you going to make ___ happen?” We start trying to convince Him how much we need something right this second, and are prone to huffy tantrums when we end up still waiting. We then position ourselves against God, disregarding both his timing and wisdom, and put our faith in our own ability to get what we want when we want it. Most of the time, we end up with a mess because we didn’t see the whole picture, and in our impatience ran head first into a situation we were not prepared for. Today, we humble ourselves to God’s wisdom and open ourselves to cultivating the fruit of patience.
Reflection
What areas of life do you need to be more patient in?
What 2 things you are waiting for can you commit to trusting God’s timing with?
Prayer
Father, I feel like I spend so much of my life waiting, and I am afraid that if I don’t try to force things to happen, that they never will. Forgive me for disregarding your wisdom concerning timing and for willingly trusting in my own understanding and ability and running ahead of you, acting as though I understand my needs more than You do. I submit to Your wisdom and ask that you would cultivate the fruit of Patience in me, both for myself and the world around me. Give me joy in the waiting, letting me notice things I would have normally missed that are encouragements to my soul. Amen
