Developing Extraordinary Patience

“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.

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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.