Sunday, November 26, 2017

Patience



Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. - Romans 12:12

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. - Philippians 4:6

I am generally a patient person. When in a restaurant, I never get impatient with the wait staff when it takes a while to get my food. I might get hungrier, but not impatient. When waiting at a doctor’s office, I’m patient and know that I will be seen as soon as possible. When everyday things happen, I am patient. It’s when the extraordinary happens that I become impatient. It’s been two weeks since the lady in Chicago told me she’d make the arrangements for me to come to Chicago. She said she’d get to it “soon.” After a week, I emailed her and was told she was working on it. This is one of those extraordinary things that make me impatient. It could be life changing. I just don’t know what will happen.

I do have hope and the Lord says to rejoice in hope. My need to be patient is a mere tribulation. Prayer will soothe my worrying mind. Philippians. 4:6 says, “Do not be anxious about anything.” For someone who suffers from anxiety disorder, this is hard, but prayer and supplication can help. At this time of thanksgiving, I will just have to let my requests be known by God.

We can all learn from these two passages. Patience is a virtue. When we feel impatience growing, we need to turn to God in prayer. Only he can soothe our minds and help us to truly be patient.

1 comment:

Susan said...

Excellent post, Joe. I feel the enormity of your situation. Getting this job will be life changing, and you are anxious for the next step in the process. Not getting the callback in a timely manner is frustrating, and damn annoying as well. You did the right thing, though, contacting the woman after a week went by, and happily she responded. But now there is nothing for it—you have to wait on her timetable. My prayers and hopes are that the waiting will be short. Take care.