Don’t be impatient for the Lord to act! Travel steadily along his path. Psalm 37:34 NLT
We are born with impatience, not the other way around.
Although our first grandchild was impatient when a toddler, our second was more so. Perhaps because he saw what his brother could do and wanted to do the same, even though he was two years younger. Long before he should have eaten table food, he wanted it. Brother ate with a utensil, and he wanted to as well. Big brother also walked and ran. So crawling wasn’t much on our second grandson’s agenda.
Impatience doesn’t always stop at childhood. It can follow into younger and older adulthood. It did me. I knew God’s promise to meet my needs, but I wanted Him to do it quicker than He often did.
Some are impatient for a spouse, or a boyfriend or girlfriend. Not willing to wait for God to send the right person, they prematurely jump into bad relationships. Or the pregnancy doesn’t come quickly enough, so the parents resort to other measures. The list goes on. A larger house, a more prestigious car, a better job. The impatience list is long and cumbersome.
The psalmist’s advice is sound. Walk a godly path, and wait for God to act. Easier said than done, but possible with God’s assistance.
Waiting for God to act means I have to submit to God’s timing, which is usually radically different than mine. But as I wait for Him to act, I develop the very thing He wants to teach me: patience.
Waiting for God to act involves succumbing to God’s plan, which might be different than what I envision for myself. Since I have the ability to know the mind of Christ, I can know His plan, but I must have patience as He works it out in my life.
Letting God prepare me for His plan also helps me learn patience. I may think I’m ready for God’s plan but not be. Moses thought he was, but God had to put Moses on the backside of a desert for many years before he was ready to meet the king and tell him to free God’s people.
Patience entails being obedient to God where He has placed me until He decides to move me. When I try to change my circumstances, I’ll mess it up every time.
Impatience is conquerable if you rely on God to help you beat it.
Tweetable: Don't let impatience get the best of you.
Prayer: Father, we ask You to develop patience in our lives by whatever means You choose.
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