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Patience

              Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. (Psalm 37:7)

Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city. (Proverbs 16:32)

Love is patient… (I Corinthians 13:4)

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience… (Galatian 5:22)

I have often thought that God is like a wise doctor or dentist. He has a pleasant picture on the wall, or toys or some other thing to which He draws our attention while He’s doing something unpleasant but necessary. It seems to me that He points out some area of my life for me to work on while He’s actually working at something deeper. It’s not that I don’t need to work on that thing He’s pointed out, but one of the reasons for me to work on it is so He can work on the bigger issue.

I don’t know if it’s true, but it’s a thought that goes through my mind as I contemplate what seems to be hovering around the edges of my mind like a bee, every once in a while, actually moving in, only to take off again before I can focus the camera of my mind. As today’s passages make clear, the “bee” is patience. If that is the object to which my attention is being diverted, what is the deeper thing?

And, given the number of times I’ve heard people say, “Don’t pray for patience, you’ll get it,” it would be easy to lose patience with them. But they are right. Patience is one of those things we learn best (or perhaps learn only) if we face circumstances in which we need it. Like a muscle or language, if you don’t use it, you “lose” it.

In the past, I’ve defined patience as giving others (including God) the time needed to do what is desired without playing God in their lives. That doesn’t mean never making our preferences known or backing down on our principles, but it does mean not imposing our wills on them. There are also a couple other terms I need to consider because they impersonate patience.

Laziness. The goal in laziness is to not do. It is a refusal to bother.

Procrastination. This is laziness’s younger sibling. It doesn’t have the strength to say “No,” but only “Not now.”

Passivity. This is a cousin of Laziness and Procrastination, which are both in the Will/Volition family. Passivity seems to me to be more in the Feeling or Thought family. When I am passive, I don’t want to make the decision to do something, or I am afraid to make the decision. If the thing comes along, I'll address it, but whether good or bad, it will have to come to me.

Burn Out – This is unrelated to the others. I’ve experienced it a number of times, and it usually involves my suddenly walking away from something. This is probably what I have been suffering over the past two years. People have suggested that I find a job caring for people, since I have experience in caring for my father, and my general thought is that I’d rather slit my throat. I’ve experienced it after working on other major projects. It’s not laziness but might be mistaken for it.

          All of these face the present and the future in a negative way. Their goal is to disengage, to separate. Patience is positive. 

I'll have to come back to this tomorrow, after more thinking, but the key here is that these things are not patience, and the road to patience isn't through giving up, or turning our backs on things.


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