I’m drawn to this subject more and more everyday. There are so many times I catch myself feeling aggravated or frustrated over an undone chore or the poor results of my efforts and endeavor to get this or that done. People’s unkindness, behaviors tainted with impure motives and everything this probationary estate entails gets my craw!
I keep pacing inside my head, wearing out the floor of my mind, seeking new understanding and vision; wanting to shake my day upside down like that little game with beads inside and slots to fit each bead in as you carefully and with precision try to slide each bead into the vacant hole! ( I’m sure you’ve had one of these frustrating games.) That’s exactly how I feel some days. (A hug on those days fit in so perfectly, don’t they? :)
I remind myself of that well-known adage, “ Deborah, remember the patience of Job.” (that in and of itself drives my blood pressure soaring). I whisper to my very active conscience “Thanks Lord, I feel so much better now! NOT! Shhheeesh!”
I regularly read the following scripture verses: maybe you do, too.
Romans 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Luke 21:19 In your patience possess ye your souls.
James 1:3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
James 1:4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing
What kind of “work” is James referring to, how do we “possess our souls,” are there different kinds of patience? Where am I on this measuring stick?
I especially love these two quotations by my #1 Church Authority, the late Elder Neal A. Maxwell.
“Patience is a willingness, in a sense, to watch the unfolding purposes of God with a sense of wonder and awe, rather than pacing up and down within the cell of our circumstances. “ ("Patience," p. 216)
Patience is not indifference. Actually, it means caring very much but being willing, ,nevertheless, to submit to the Lord and to what the scriptures call the "process of time." ("Patience," p. 215.)
In my life’s journey I rarely have had respite periods and which I call “Sandals” moments. (reference to the vacationing resort) To show you how real this is, I was texting a good friend of mine the other day and said, “Shirl, I’m feeling scared...” “Why? She asked. “There’s something wrong but I’m having too much peace and respite” I answered. Her reply was that the Adversary was trying to make me miserable and I should shun those thoughts. I’m used to struggles and more challenges than a sandals break.
I made a two column experiment. On one side I wrote, “Disadvantages of Patience and on the other, Advantages of Patience. I couldn’t come up with one concrete disadvantage! Except for “Immediate relief would let me keep my momentum.” (However, getting something faster than in God’s timing isn’t always a smart end result). I thought to myself , “What! Are you kidding me!? There had to be at at least one valid disadvantage!” Well, there is, the fact of spending wasting precious time looking for one, which is contrary to our goal, am I correct?
Everything that comes from God is good whether we see it or not at that moment. Patience is definitely a lifelong endeavor and pursuit. Rushing to obtain it is a sign of impatience. Without a doubt, patience must have its time in order to have its work within us.
I jotted down over 20 advantages to having the Virtue of Patience, I’m going to mention the five advantages I feel most beneficial to my understanding.
1. Patience renews exhausted /tried faith, it gently whispers that everything will somehow work itself out as they need to be in order to receive a hearty harvest. It prevents us to give up when it gets tough. We exercise our belief enough to keep walking onward. We will tend to see things with hope, not in anger or disappointment but with the assurance that The Higher Power is working things out for our ultimate good.
2. Patience blesses us with the need to stop in our tracks and enjoy what is or isn’t at the moment. For example, I almost jump with joy when I don’t have a runny nose due to allergies. (that’s something we wouldn’t notice if we never stopped going like an energetic bunny. Patience has often had the effect of opening my mind and heart to new and deeper level of understanding in certain problems and given me answers to prayers.
3. Patience promotes perspective, the need to maintain a healthy balance in life. I try to review my life weekly in order to see where I’ve been and how I’m coming along; sometimes to assess and other times to pat myself in the back. Maintaining an eternal / long-term perspective allows our souls to mature as a fruit. We also set reasonable goals, short and long term ones without condemning ourselves for not achieving it at a specific time or for losing direction. Patience bars us from punishing ourself—something we members do so well and women win the Nobel Prize at! (Don’t ask me why).
4. Patience keeps us trusting in God, mankind and in ourselves. There are so many unknowns attached to life that we are naturally forced to trust because we certainly can’t control everything. We trust there will be some good awaiting us during and after the darkness. Personally, I have a deep need to keep trusting in Heavenly Father’s timetable for me.
5. Patience keeps me humble. This, to me, is how we “possess our souls.” Impatience creates in us a false belief that we can do it all by ourself. In the virtue/gift of humility we are enticed to do good more often without needing instant gratification or “opening the oven door too often to see if the cake is done” as Elder Maxwell said once.
Isn’t it funny we all have an aversion toward impatient people? Dang, it just pushes me over the edge! Yet, we are exactly as those when we stomp our feet at Heavenly Father and have our tantrums and pity-parties, or when we punish ourselves at making a boo-boo that are usually erasable with—PATIENCE! Ironic, huh?
I find that the more I practice and ask for this virtue, the greater my love for God and others grows and as this continues, the happier I am, not because everything is exactly as I wish but because I know all is well and will be well.
1 comment:
Patients has become my friend over the years as you well know. I'm reminded of the talk that Elder Chrostopherson gave at the last conference when he was retelling a story by Elder Grant. He cut back a current bush that had grown way too big to produce quality fruit and as he looked at the pruned branches he saw what looked like tears - the branches seemed to be saying, "Why did you cut us, we were trying so hard to be a tree?" He thought in his mind, "I'm the gardener and I know what's best for you. In time you will thank me." Later in his life he was passed over for a much deserved promotion but was denied soley due to being a Mormon. He was angry with God for allowing this to happen but then he heard a voice in his head saying, "I'm the gardener and I know what's best for you. Some day you'll thank me." He later became an apostle which would have been impossible if he had been given the promotion. Faith and patients - I now try to find the paths that Heavenly Father wants me to travel and not spend so much time fretting over the paths that I can't seem to go down.
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