Recognizing My Impatience

Traffic jams, construction zones, and frustratingly long lines at the supermarket – these are just a few of the daily opportunities for me to very naturally feel (and express) a lack of patience, probably even without batting an eyelash or thinking twice.  

Then there’s that unseen roll of my eyes and the sigh of frustration over an unfair decision made by management at work… 

What about all of the injustices we see daily throughout the world?  Or the personal injustices and betrayals done to us?  Do you ever feel impatient and frustrated while it seems those who are guilty go unpunished, and often even seem to get rewarded?  Our wrestling with the injustices isn’t wrong, but our impatience with the Lord surely is – it’s as if we don’t trust Him to do the right thing.

And then there’s the disbelief that a long-prayed-for request will ever be answered – perhaps for a prodigal child who grew up hearing the Gospel, or the family member you have witnessed to for decades…   The Lord sees our eyes every time we roll them, and He recognizes our impatience with Him, even when we profess knowing that His timing is perfect.  The truth is – sometimes we simply don’t trust Him, and it evidences itself in our impatience.

What can I do to change how easily my frustration boils over, and how quickly I rush to judgments of people in my heart after they’ve offended me?  Perhaps I’ve even labeled them as “unsafe” and cut them off from fellowship in an effort to hurt them.  Am I displaying Christ-like patience?  

Over the past two years, my family has waited, and waited, and waited, not always very patiently, for a major family event to come to fruition.  We have only been able to share the details, as well as the weekly frustrations (which most often felt like they outnumbered the victories), with those closest to us.  This particular wait has made the traffic jams and long lines at the supermarket feel like a cake walk.  And I have had to be reminded over and over that He paints on a canvas bigger than we can see or imagine, and He is working all things out in His timing.  And that is not cliche.  It is “big T” TRUTH. 

And the truth is, there are dozens of ways each of our circumstances, from traffic jams to prodigal prayers expose our impatience on a daily basis.  And praise God, His Word is full of stories of imperfect, impatient people scattered throughout the Bible for us to learn from.

Am I gentle?  Kind?  Slow to anger?  PATIENT? 

We read in Genesis 18 that Sarah waited 25 difficult and painful years for the son that God had promised her.  He kept His word and despite all odds seemingly stacked against her, His promise came to pass.  Sarah’s patience was not perfect, but she has left us with wisdom in her waiting.

In the book of Ruth we learn about a devoted daughter-in-law who, despite her difficult new circumstances, makes a decision to leave her home and everything she knows to follow her mother-in-law and put her faith in God, trusting Him fully.  The Lord arranges for Boaz to cross her path and eventually redeems both she and her future family.  What great patience both Ruth and Naomi model for us!

Esther Chapter 4 tells us that when faced with the potential genocide of her people, Esther showed wisdom and restraint, carefully planning, praying, and trusting in God while she patiently waited rather than acting impulsively.  I wish the same could be said about me, but I’m so grateful for her example.

In Genesis Chapter 8, Noah waited long past the 40 days of rain to exit the ark he had built.  Even though the storm had ended, he waited patiently for God’s command, providing an example for us that God’s presence is just as real in the waiting as it is during the storm, and we need only to wait patiently on His promises. 

One brief glance back in time at our own lives provides us with all we need to be reminded that our Savior is slow to anger and relentlessly and perfectly patient.  It is so good to be humbled by the Lord’s long suffering with us, not for condemnation’s sake, but for reminder’s sake that we are recipients of a grace and a patience we ought to supernaturally develop a longing to extend to others.  How well do we do that?

If we can all be honest, and if we ever needed a reminder of this truth, we need not look any further than the contrast between His patience with us, and our own lack of patience with others or with our current circumstances.  And the Cross shows just how very patient He is with us. 

Praise God for the local church family He also gave us, so that we can turn to one another for wisdom and encouragement as we wait, reminding one another of the stories of those before us – like the father of the prodigal child who was always in a posture of waiting, and the many stories that no doubt, permeate our church family’s stories.  Thank God for the body of Christ, and thank God for His Word!

This ongoing season of waiting in my family has allowed me to become more keenly aware of my impatience in so many of the seemingly smaller scenarios of my daily life.  What continues to stand out to me the most, though, is that when I allow my thoughts to wander back in time – I can’t help but see how He has remained so incredibly patient and long suffering with me. 

Tonight, I’m headed to bed thanking God that He never, ever grows impatient with us.  Isn’t that incredible?