The Dying Art of Patience
There is a quote by Joyce Meyer that says
"patience is not simply the ability to wait - it's how we behave while we're waiting"
I have to admit, I am not naturally the most patient person. I know this is true for quite a few people. It can be from the smaller things like driving behind a slow driver, waiting for the toaster to pop. It can also be waiting for that elusive job opening, or for that baby you always wanted to have some day, and some day seems like five years ago.
Waiting is hard. It seems to me that this is especially so when what you are waiting for is dear to your heart. I have often had no difficulty waiting for the bigger things like finishing my degree, or moving countries. This is pretty doable in most cases. But the issues begin when I have to wait on people.
Waiting on your family members for example. I have had countless agonizing times of waiting for a sister or parent to make a decision that would greatly affect me. Putting your life and ultimately your happiness in someone else's hands is never easy. Sometimes it can't be avoided, sometimes its out of foolishness that we entrust people with our lives.
One thing that is true out of all this, choosing to wait on God is never a bad decision, it is however, one of the hardest. Usually, we wait on God for very big and important things such as providing us with a job, a life partner, protecting our children, and so on. I suppose this will depend on the type of relationship you have with your God. Faith - this is what tells you to put your trust in someone you have never seen! Imagine the absurdity of that idea for a minute. You have no idea where God actually lives, you have never laid eyes on Him, you have never literally heard His voice (not most of us anyway); and the only assurance you have of His being able to deliver on any of His promises is His Word.
It takes a lot of bravery/foolishness, humility/ fear to put all your trust in God. It also takes solid resolve. There can be so much doubt involved, there can be backtracking, theorizing, denial, anxiety, and often panic. But there is always peace, at least there should always be peace although this might not be what some people accept easily. For me personally, peace is a constant battle to keep hold of when I see the years marching by and I continue to wait on God for one specific thing.
The lesson I learnt this past week was brutal but very welcome. Through a rather unpleasant experience (which I shall not get into), I saw a different perspective to the process of waiting that makes it a little bit easier to live with. Waiting patiently does not have to be a leash that keeps us from racing to the next step in life. Often the problem with impatience is the desire to hurry up and move on to the next thing, to rush to the end and see what happens rather than slog through the motions of natures pace. My problem is the uncertainty, the lack of assurance that what I want to happen is definitely going to happen, and having to wait and see is painful.
So, once I realized this one bit of annoying truth; I had to re-frame it in my mind. If patience is not a leash, what is it? Well, among other things, it can be an opportunity for reflection and thankfulness. Yes, that sounds cliche and boring but it has some challenging value. For example, choosing to reflect on the many or few good things that have happened along the continuing journey of waiting will act as a distraction from the anxiety of impatience.
Honoring time, both past and present has the potential to bring you into a state of thankfulness that should reaffirm your path. If you feel like things are simply not moving fast enough, look realistically at how long you have waited, and what has actually happened in that time. Often our minds tend to exaggerate the amount of time that has passed since we began to wait on God, making us feel like the situation is hopeless when it really is not. We have the ability to transform our thinking just by making this shift in perspective.
In psychology, changing perspective (re-framing) is a very useful tool in therapy. I liken it to switching on a light in a dark, overlooked corner of a person's life to reveal the strengths they did not realize they had.
This very long post has hopefully made up for my absence from writing over the few weeks gone. I wish you all the best as you reflect on your waiting journey and choose how to behave as you proceed.
Blessings always,
Julie
"patience is not simply the ability to wait - it's how we behave while we're waiting"
I have to admit, I am not naturally the most patient person. I know this is true for quite a few people. It can be from the smaller things like driving behind a slow driver, waiting for the toaster to pop. It can also be waiting for that elusive job opening, or for that baby you always wanted to have some day, and some day seems like five years ago.
Waiting is hard. It seems to me that this is especially so when what you are waiting for is dear to your heart. I have often had no difficulty waiting for the bigger things like finishing my degree, or moving countries. This is pretty doable in most cases. But the issues begin when I have to wait on people.
Waiting on your family members for example. I have had countless agonizing times of waiting for a sister or parent to make a decision that would greatly affect me. Putting your life and ultimately your happiness in someone else's hands is never easy. Sometimes it can't be avoided, sometimes its out of foolishness that we entrust people with our lives.
One thing that is true out of all this, choosing to wait on God is never a bad decision, it is however, one of the hardest. Usually, we wait on God for very big and important things such as providing us with a job, a life partner, protecting our children, and so on. I suppose this will depend on the type of relationship you have with your God. Faith - this is what tells you to put your trust in someone you have never seen! Imagine the absurdity of that idea for a minute. You have no idea where God actually lives, you have never laid eyes on Him, you have never literally heard His voice (not most of us anyway); and the only assurance you have of His being able to deliver on any of His promises is His Word.
It takes a lot of bravery/foolishness, humility/ fear to put all your trust in God. It also takes solid resolve. There can be so much doubt involved, there can be backtracking, theorizing, denial, anxiety, and often panic. But there is always peace, at least there should always be peace although this might not be what some people accept easily. For me personally, peace is a constant battle to keep hold of when I see the years marching by and I continue to wait on God for one specific thing.
The lesson I learnt this past week was brutal but very welcome. Through a rather unpleasant experience (which I shall not get into), I saw a different perspective to the process of waiting that makes it a little bit easier to live with. Waiting patiently does not have to be a leash that keeps us from racing to the next step in life. Often the problem with impatience is the desire to hurry up and move on to the next thing, to rush to the end and see what happens rather than slog through the motions of natures pace. My problem is the uncertainty, the lack of assurance that what I want to happen is definitely going to happen, and having to wait and see is painful.
So, once I realized this one bit of annoying truth; I had to re-frame it in my mind. If patience is not a leash, what is it? Well, among other things, it can be an opportunity for reflection and thankfulness. Yes, that sounds cliche and boring but it has some challenging value. For example, choosing to reflect on the many or few good things that have happened along the continuing journey of waiting will act as a distraction from the anxiety of impatience.
Honoring time, both past and present has the potential to bring you into a state of thankfulness that should reaffirm your path. If you feel like things are simply not moving fast enough, look realistically at how long you have waited, and what has actually happened in that time. Often our minds tend to exaggerate the amount of time that has passed since we began to wait on God, making us feel like the situation is hopeless when it really is not. We have the ability to transform our thinking just by making this shift in perspective.
In psychology, changing perspective (re-framing) is a very useful tool in therapy. I liken it to switching on a light in a dark, overlooked corner of a person's life to reveal the strengths they did not realize they had.
This very long post has hopefully made up for my absence from writing over the few weeks gone. I wish you all the best as you reflect on your waiting journey and choose how to behave as you proceed.
Blessings always,
Julie
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