Be still before the Lord
and wait patiently for him.
—Psalm 37:7
Exasperated with slow traffic, a San Francisco driver ignored construction cones, swerved into what appeared to be a vacant lane, and hurtled his Porsche 911 into a stretch of wet cement. Impatience can be costly.
Definition of split-second: the time between the light turning green and the driver behind you honking.
The apostle Peter listed eight qualities that “will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive” (2 Pt 1:5–8). One of those qualities is patience (variously translated perseverance, endurance, steadfastness).
We don’t want to be “on the way,” we want to be at the destination. But patience allows the unfolding of God’s plan for our lives to proceed at its own pace.
Patience is the calm acceptance that it’s okay for things to happen in a different order than the one we have in mind.
Patience is a key ingredient of inner peace.