Patience

I wonder if you’ve ever had a situation a little like this.

You have decided to work from home in the peace and tranquillity of your favourite armchair; and so the morning has entailed a mad frantic rush to get your little bundles of joy out the house to school; however in the meantime the boiler isn’t working, there is no bread for sandwiches, the dog is looking guilty having eaten your child’s homework, and you get a text from your bank to say your account has been compromised. In an effort to maintain a peaceful working environment, you choose to put the text to one side until later, kick the kids out the front door with whatever school uniform is clean, and attempt to look presentable before turning your laptop on.

You press the “On” button and your laptop decides to take an age to boot up, and then you remember the golden rule of how to make today successful – caffeine! You mosey around the kitchen to the coffee machine, flick the switch and the sweet aroma of coffee fills the air, as your brain kicks into action the things of the day, and the tasks you’re going to get done. Before too long the aroma of coffee has transported you to Columbia, where you are being whisked up the side of the mountain as the sun sets behind you – and you soon forget the stress of the morning. Back to earth with a bang as your work phone starts syncing emails and you spy that your coffee is about to overflow. You dive across the worktop in an action that wouldn’t be out of place in the scene from Rambo, and you managed to salvage your coffee cup before it starts to overflow. You pick up your brimming coffee and slowly make your way towards the sink at glacial pace that even snails wouldn’t find hard to beat. However, as you come closer to the sink, your pace picks up and you feel the need to get to the sink quicker. You lean forward, your eyes widen, your mouth drops (because somehow this helps with balance – apparently) and you attempt to pour some of your sweet coffee down the drain before it ends up on the floor. In what feels like slow motion you misjudge the trajectory of the coffee, and instead of hitting the sink you manage to throw your caffeinated success-juice all over what feels like 90% of the cabinet doors….. and the dog. All this as your lodger or partner walks in and speaks those four words which are meant to bring peace, but instead they will only cause you to turn green and rip off your shirt in a Hulk-like notion….”Patience is a virtue…..”

The funny thing is that patience is not something that we have naturally. We want things now, deliveries to be the next day, our food delivery order to be with us in 30 minutes, and above all – lightning quick broadband speeds. The problem with this is the impatience is rarely seen as a quality in faith. I mean for example, there was a reason why Jesus went into the desert for 40 days, not 40 minutes; He waited 30 years to begin his public ministry; Daniel spent all night in the lion’s den; Joshua walked around Jericho for what must have seemed like forever; and Jacob worked years for Laban to marry his daughter Rachel.

As Guinness famously say, “Good things come to those who wait.”

Patience itself is born out of challenge and built through endurance of hard times.

Out of patience, we are able to empathise with others when things go wrong; however, it’s the virtue of love that helps us to keep enduring in patience. And so, love is needed to succeed, drive us on, and be patient in challenging circumstances. Galatians 5:22-23 shows just how important love is in the economy of faith.

Without love, patience simply doesn’t exist.

Love for God, and love for people. I know for myself that when I spend less time with God, I have less patience. If I fail to take time to rest in God, rest in love, then my patience and love for one another is eroded. Therefore, taking time, and spending time with God, has never met been more important than the present. Ask yourself today, are you resting enough in his presence today?

 

That’s pray for:

  • The opportunity for young people to rest in God’s presence.
  • Children and young people as they return to school, that any faith and spirituality has been built up over the summer, does not go by the wayside.
  • When challenges to present themselves, we are able to process these situations in patients rather than being reactive.
  • For those people who feel as though patients and peace is simply unattainable. Lord would you be with them and cause people to come alongside them, to journey with them, and to love them…

Written By Dave Clarke, Director for Swindon Youth for Christ