“But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” Romans 8:25

Cultivating Patience

Many times during my formative years my mother repeated that old motto to me, “Patience is a virtue and the fruits are sweet.” However, I never completely developed that virtue. Impatient by nature, I want the winter to be over with, Spring to come, and the flowers to bloom. I want to feel the warmth of the sun on my face. I want my leg to heal quickly. But life is not like that. God’s world is set up to test our mettle. Patience has elements of endurance and optimism. Things will resolve themselves over time. People who possess true patience bear the trials of life calmly, while learning and changing what they can along the way. Someone once saw Phillips Brooks, an old New England preacher, pacing the floor nervously and asked him what the matter was. He replied, “The trouble is that I’m in a hurry, but God isn’t.” I’m sure we have all felt that way from time to time. Spring will come in God’s own good time. Bones were designed to mend slowly, rendering them stronger than they were before the break. Life was not meant to be lived in fast-forward mode. We must slow down and wait. We will endure, and we will emerge stronger in the end.

lhart@gwi.net