“Be patient, for there are many
adversities in this life. No matter what [are our] plans for peace, life is not
free from struggle and sorrow.”
— Thomas á Kempis (1380–1471)
There is a state
of being beyond irredeemable anger, agitated frustration, and crippling despair.
These negative states creep up and overwhelm us without the conscious
competence of awareness; that ability to allow God to search us, in collusion
with our honesty. But when we have such an awareness, that we can identify and
correct the climbing negative emotion, we have a virtuous wherewithal; the
basis for developing extraordinary patience.
Extraordinary
patience is a thing we need in living daily life to the full. We need it on the
roads. We need it in our homes. We need it in our workplaces. We need it in our
churches. We need it everywhere and usually most at the least expected moment.
A lack of
patience is revealed without warning. Our limits are tested and breached in
ways that surprised us, or we just didn’t heed the warnings. Warnings are
always the obvious death knell from the perfection of vision of 20/20
hindsight.
The Start, Beginning,
and End of Developing Extraordinary Patience
God must become number one, to the rejection
of all other gods.
It’s the only way
this deal works.
This is
astoundingly simple in concept, but just as astoundingly complex in its
implementation. Becoming more patient is perhaps the hardest of all facets of
character growth in our postmodern world, especially when we are used to
getting many varied things instantly and just the way we want.
To reconcile a
life that is full of struggle and often very sorrowful we need patience. That
sounds obvious. But only as we read it here. We must not neglect the fact in
its obviousness, but attempt to absorb it deep in our being.
It’s the only way
this deal works.
God must become
number one, and not simply by our words, or our Sunday worship.
When, in the
motion of life, we take to rejecting the frustration, anger, and despair of the
flesh, and we substitute the causes of our impatience with superior causes for
patience—because we are putting God first, by faith—we are living an extraordinary patience. We must be fervently obedient;
always moving forward; always getting past many temptations for resentment.
This cannot be
taught; it can only be lived. It can only be experienced.
***
Patience can only
be lived, and there is no shortage of opportunities to live patiently.
Developing
extraordinary patience is about putting God first in our everyday living of
life, a moment at a time. It’s not easy but it is doable. The beauty of
developed extraordinary patience is the blessings of spiritual strength we
acquire. More strength for more patience and more confidence, to boot.
© 2012 S. J. Wickham.
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