Walking in the Light, February 22, 2009

Walking in the Light

     I despise waiting! I can’t stand it when I go into the grocery store to pick up a couple of items and there is only one register open. I always happen to get behind the lady that has 2 shopping carts full of groceries and 150 coupons and wants to debate the price of every single item the cashier scans. And when it finally does come time to pay, she starts writing out a check. But what really drives me crazy is when I’m driving on the interstate and I get behind someone going 50 mph instead of 70, but I can’t go around them because there’s someone cruising along in the fast lane going 55. Slower traffic is supposed to stay in the right lane so that impatient people like myself can get to where they need to go.

     Who needs patience anyway? Is it really a virtue anymore? The people who get things done in this world are the movers and shakers; people who are driven and  determined. Patient people get acted upon, and life is not about letting things happen; it’s about making things happen. If you want something in life you must go after it. You must get yours before someone else does. And if you relax; if you are patient, then you are last.

     Patience is not a virtue in our culture; it’s a vice. Our culture doesn’t seek patience; it seeks instant reward. Our culture is obsessed with a turbo-paced lifestyle. We demand speed and efficiency. Therefore, our society doesn’t promote patience; it promotes irritation, aggravation and annoyance. Is patience even a possibility in a world so consumed with instant satisfaction?

     We cannot rely on the world to define patience for us. The world tends to view patience as permissiveness, passiveness or tolerance. Therefore, it is frequently viewed as a weakness rather than a strength. Biblical patience is hupomone and makrothumia. Hupomone literally translates “an abiding under;” it speaks of patience that grows only in trials. Makrothumia literally translates “long-tempered or long-suffering.” Long-suffering is completely foreign to us and our environment. This word is not a part of our vocabulary. We have a word for its counterpart; it’s called short-tempered; we certainly know what that means, but long-suffering we do not grasp. We understand what it means to have a short fuse, but we don’t really grasp the concept of having a long fuse.

     The most illuminating thing about long-suffering is that it’s commonly used in the New Testament to describe the attitude of God towards His people. Paul writes, in Romans 2:4, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”

If God operated like us, He would have wiped us out a long time ago. Thankfully He has patience (long-suffering) that puts up with all our sinning, all our defiance, all our rebellion and loves us rather than rejecting us. Think about the patience (long-suffering) of God and then think about your life. Are you as patient with others as God is towards you?

Chris McCurley