Patience

The virtue of patience is steadily being eaten away within our culture. As technology continues to improve and our lives continually become more immersed in the digital and social media worlds, being still and not having to be doing something for our own entertainment, work, or agenda, is becoming increasingly difficult.

We have access into other people’s lives more than ever before, and that makes it very easy to immerse ourselves into all kinds of different realities, drama, gossip, information, and emotions. Because we (most people living in the West, at least) are so connected to the world in these ways, and because of the constant influence of social media and technology further promoting mindsets of instant gratification, it becomes very difficult to be patient when we are not receiving the outcome we desire--especially in terms of our relationships with people, our own feelings, and, ultimately, our relationship with God.

To begin, the definition of patience/patient according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary is: “bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint; manifesting forbearance under provocation or strain; not hasty or impetuous.” When looking at the strict definition of the word from this perspective, bearing pains and trials without complaint sounds severely difficult. There are some days when something as simple as dropping your phone in the car can be the most infuriating thing to experience.

1) God is not working on our time

We are naturally passionate and emotional beings, and being patient with what happens in the outside world is one thing, but there is also an entire world within us that requires having patience with as well. In both of these worlds--the world that exists outside of us and despite us, and the inner world within us that makes up who we are--God is actively moving, working, and seeking to bring His own change. For us as humans, being patient revolves around waiting for the ideal outcome that we expect to arrive. However; most often, the way God is moving, working through, and seeking us, does not align with our own ideal outcomes, and does not come when we expect it to.