By Allen White
A person’s wisdom
yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense. Proverbs
19:11
No one has ever accused me of being patient. Maybe I’ve slowed
down a little as I’ve gotten a little older, but don’t confuse speed with
patience. It’s not the same thing.
When I am choosing a checkout line at a store, I quietly evaluate
each customer, the number of items in their shopping cart, and the friendliness
of the cashier. Helpful hint: friendly equals slow. I want a cashier with his
head down and scanning items like the building is on fire.
And, if the customer ahead of me pulls out a checkbook, forget it.
Even if they only have one item, the check is the death blow to the efficiency
of that line. I move on.
Now, to further plunge the depths of my neurosis, once I choose a
line, I keep tabs on how the other lines are moving. If I can leave the store
ahead of the person at equal starting position in the next line, I feel a small
sense of victory. I know. I need therapy. Is there a pill for this dysfunction?
But, I have learned a certain amount of patience over the years.
When our oldest son was born, he spent most of the first five months of his
life in ICU. Hospitals are great teachers in patience.
One day, during his hospital stay, I walked to the parking lot
from the Ronald McDonald House. RMH was such a great blessing to us. I couldn’t
fathom the cost of a five month hotel stay in San Francisco. (Drop your change
in that little box at McDonald’s next time. It really helps!)
Parking for Ronald McDonald House was a scarce commodity in San
Francisco. Parking on the streets of San Francisco is also quite a feat. When
we finally got an assigned parking space, it was in a lot shared by two medical
offices. It was a zoo.
Everyone left their keys with the parking attendant who carefully
double and triple parked cars in an elaborate game of Tetris. Cars parked in
the drive ran perpendicular to cars parked in the spaces.
As I stood waiting for the attendant to free my car from this
maze, a patient from the doctor’s office walked over and said, “How do I get my
car back?” I told them the attendant was over on the other side. He would be
back in a minute.
The patient looked at me and said, “Boy, you sure are patient.” I
was a little surprised at the comment. I thought, “I’m not patient. I keep tabs
on competing checkout lines at the grocery story. This person thinks I’m
patient.” Then, I smiled. God was working through my circumstance to produce
patience in my life.
Think about times you are impatient, especially when your
impatient with another person. What response does your impatience evoke in
them? If you could take back your words and avoid the hurt or conflict,
wouldn’t you? Wisdom challenges us to bite our tongues, especially when the
other person is in the wrong.
If we need perspective, just imagine how patient God is with us.
How many times has He overlooked our repeating the same stupid mistake over and
over again.
At a minimum, just think about how wise we appear when we don’t
communicate our impatience, verbally or non-verbally. We can seem much wiser,
just by keeping our mouths closed. Think about it.
More from Allen
White: allenwhite.org
Facebook: Galatians419 Group
Twitter: @galatians419 @allenwhite
I'm not great at keeping my mouth shut, thankfully age is helping me in this area. Much better to keep my mouth shut and appear "smart" than to open it and removal all doubt about how foolish I actually am. Too bad I usually remember this too late. oh well, I'm learning!
ReplyDeleteAlways shoot for progress, not perfection. -- Allen
ReplyDelete