Impatient Actions
“And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we not wot is become of him.” Exodus 32:1
We become impatient when things don’t go our way or when uncertainty looms over our life like a dark cloud. We become impatient when time seems to be running out or when people don’t act as we think they should. We even become impatient waiting on God. We all wrestle with impatience from time to time. Hopefully, you are not chronically impatient. If so, there is a good chance you are discontented and even miserable. Impatience can be good if your house is on fire, but in the normal course of life, it is not the best choice.
Impatience can cause you to do things that are totally uncharacteristic of your normal behavior. You are prone to abnormal behavior, if others prod you on, for impatience does not like to be alone. Its emotions are fueled by the discontent of a group. Somehow, the voice of reason suffocates in a crowded room full of discontent. Its words become garbled by intense grumbling. Even level heads become unbalanced when intoxicated by impatience.
The timing of impatience can be uncanny. God could have just provided a beautiful blessing such as childbirth, when suddenly we become impatient with meeting the needs of the totally dependent baby. We forget the joy of birth, revel in the burden of bringing up a child and complain about the inconvenience of infants. We become impatient with their cries that started out as precious. But helping anything grow takes time and a tremendous amount of patience. We can’t shirk our responsibilities as parents, wives, husbands, or friends.
Instead, be disciplined and patient to build. You can build healthy, good things before they become broken, bad things. Your life, a business, your family. And whatever else is worth building, build it to last. What you do while you wait determines whether you are patient or impatient (patience is not just waiting, but the attitude you display while waiting).
Use this time of waiting to ratchet up your service to others. Service to others on behalf of Christ keeps you from being impatient around your own expectations. It diverts idle minds from believing Satan’s lies; you avoid playing foolish mind games when you are engaged in unselfish acts of service. Secondly, seek the Lord in worship and thanksgiving, as they facilitate patience and contentment. You can’t contemplate the goodness and greatness of your heavenly Father and not be touched with patience. Worship feeds trust, and trust is the parent of patience. The appetite you feed becomes who you are. Worship recalibrates your reasoning to reflect on the character of Christ.
Lastly, pray for those who have not met your expectations. They may be spiritual leaders who seem to be ignoring you. It may be a spouse who is in a season of self-absorption. Your boss may be demanding and unreasonable, your children uncommunicative and uncooperative. You can battle impatience with Christ’s unlimited patience.
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2nd Peter 3:9
Prayer
Heavenly Father, grant me the grace to be patient and not react in fear toward another but instead respond in trust to You, in Jesus’ name, amen.
Application
In what situation do I need to take a deep breath and not get out of breath with worry?
Related Readings
Psalm 37:7; Romans 12:12; 1 Corinthians 13:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:14
