The Importance of Patience

Saturday, April 06, 2019

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.”

Hebrews 10:35–38

I read a story from the early days of train travel in America. There was only one traveler on the train, and he was very upset to be going so slowly. Then the train came to a complete stop. The man asked the conductor what the problem was only to be told, “Nothing to be concerned about, sir. There's a cow on the tracks.” After a few minutes the train started once again slowly down the track. But after a few minutes it stopped again. “This is just a brief delay,” said the conductor. “We'll get going again soon.” The frustrated passenger asked, “What is it this time? Did we catch up to the cow?”

It seems like the faster things move in our world, the more impatient people become. We do not want to wait for anything and quickly get upset if we get held up even for a moment. The fast lanes aren't fast enough. Express shipping needs to be upgraded. We want what we want, and we want it right away. Yet despite the increasing pace of the world, things still get delayed—held up when we want them to be moving forward.

Patience matters in our spiritual lives even more than in our physical lives. God is not working on our timetable, and if we insist on getting our own way, we will regret it. “And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul” (Psalm 106:15). We must be willing to trust God's knowledge and love.

Today's Growth Principle: 

If we are not willing to be patient, we will miss some of the greatest blessings we could have enjoyed.