I was driving home on the highway around 8:00 last night and
the fog in the air was so heavy and dense – as
thick as peanut butter (who can name
the movie?!). While I knew, in general,
the curvature of the road, not being able to see in the distance was unsettling
and morphed a familiar path into the unknown.
And so I drove with my hands gripped fiercely to the steering wheel, patiently
awaiting a clearer view. Finally, as I
arrived closer to the city limits, lights and buildings began to take shape in my sight once again. But it was too late; I was
already exasperated.
They say patience is a virtue; what an understatement! Some of us are blessed with an
abundance…and then some of us are not. I will admit that as I’ve gotten older,
I have a little bit more than I’ve had in the past, but we’re talking
miniscule, almost teeny-tiny, amounts. Not even
worth noting, actually.
Here’s what’s fascinating to remember with a spirit of deep humility, when it comes to the
gift of patience. If you turn to the
Bible, the source of what we believe in our hearts to be true, you’ll find models of the purest fortitude:
~ Noah waited one hundred and twenty days for the rains to
arrive.
~ Joseph was in prison for over ten years for a crime he
didn’t commit.
~ Abraham waited twenty five years for his son to arrive.
~ And Job, poor Job, he had everything stripped away, waiting close to a lifetime for God to show him the mercy he deserved.
So why is it that I struggle to wait three minutes at a stoplight?
Impatience is a direct result of not having control over a
situation. Driving in the fog last
night, I kept thinking, why does it have to be foggy tonight, of all nights,
and, am I home yet?
The truth of the matter is that we are impatient because
life isn’t moving the way we think it should, yet, lost in our own thoughts,
we fail to recognize how the lives of others are being affected.
For instance, yes, maybe I could voice my
frustration to the secretary in the doctor’s office from having to wait for a
full twenty minutes, but unbeknownst to me, it’s possible that the patient who
was just diagnosed with cancer needs a little bit more time with the doctor to
digest their life-altering news. The woman in line at
the store who I feel is majorly inconveniencing me might be requesting a price
check on an item because she just lost her job a few hours ago and so purchasing the item at the corrected, lower price is essential. And why is it the fault of the driver of the car
that stalled on the road, that I woke up twenty minutes late for work? Why am I placing the blame on them?
Let’s face it. We’re
often impatient for our own self-centered reasons. We want a clear view of the road up
ahead before we drive any further. But that won’t always be the case. There will
be times when we have to maneuver at a slower pace, fully aware of obstacles,
and people, around us. Will being
impatient get us to our destination any quicker? Not in the least.
Maybe it’s high-time we look at situations from a broader
perspective and determine if our impatience is truly warranted…or a needless endeavor
to claim control over that which, when it comes down to it, cannot be
controlled.
There are always two paths - the path of impatience or the path of acceptance.
Choose wisely.
