Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
Being impatient is easy. It’s the natural reaction.
So how do we change that natural instinct into a response that is more easygoing? How do we delight in the waiting and slowing down process? We need to recalculate and turn the problem into a life-changing purpose.
If we just move over and go past something without the due diligence of the experience, what will we miss? It’s a counterproductive move. The fear of missing out causes you to actually miss out on the experience you were meant to have. When we can’t see what’s ahead, how do we get to a place of not worrying about what’s to come and enjoying what we have before us? We may not realize it in the moment, but these times of forced patience are usually something we actually have prayed for.
In the movie Evan Almighty, Morgan Freeman plays God, and talks to Evan’s wife in a scene:
“Let me ask you something. If someone asks for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does He give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does He give him opportunities to be courageous?”
He goes on, but the point is that we have to look at the situation for what God is doing in it. Not what we want it to be. This is the place we lean into when we ask why something is happening. It’s an opportunity. Don’t ask, “Why, God?” Ask, “What, God? What do You want me to learn, and where do I need to grow in this time of waiting?”
You see, there are times when we are speeding along, things are great, and we are in the zone. But there will be times for us to slow down, stop, reassess, prune, and grow in areas that God wants to use.
Ask yourself when you are impatient, is God bringing something to light? Do you need to slow down, prune back, and recalculate your direction and speed?
*Excerpt from my book, Getting There. Copyright © 2018 by Linette Bumford, All Rights Reserved.