PATIENCE!
Lord, give me patience—right now!
Well, praying to God might help us to develop patience, but demanding it “right now” is probably not the best way to go. After all, developing patience requires patience.
My sweetheart gave me a wonderful complement at Applebee’s over lunch. We were celebrating getting our taxes done, and she said, “You are much more patient than you used to be.”
Getting a kind, encouraging word from anyone feels good. Getting a kind, encouraging word from someone you love is off-the-charts good.
However, I will confess that, for me at least, even a little improvement in patience was a long stride toward becoming a better person. I used to be one of the most impatient people I knew. I was impatient with my wife and our children. I was impatient on the road, at restaurants, in my professional life. I was even impatient with God.
Mostly, I was impatient with me.
So, how have I become a more patient person? I can answer that question with great confidence: I DON’T KNOW! However, I might have some suspicions.
Time may have helped a bit. However, I know plenty of old poops who are very impatient, so I’m not sure that merely living sixty-six years produces patience. Still, patience is partly a function of living long enough to outlive your enemies—including your impatience.
Other people have modeled patience for me. My mom, my father-in-law, friends—and above all my wife—have been incredibly patient with me. They not only showed me that patience could be done. They showed me how.
Then too, I became impatient with my impatience. At least, I became impatient with the results of my impatience. I finally discovered what should have been obvious all along: Impatience proves nothing, and improves even less. When I finally got tired of being impatient, I began to get off of “my long-legged horse,” as my oldest son once said. It is wonderful to get out of the saddle when you’ve been riding the impatience nag for so long.
Perhaps that prayer at the beginning of this post wasn’t too far off. Perhaps we just need to delete a few words, and add a few other words.
“Lord, give me patience—in your own good time.”
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