Purposeful Patience

“Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.” -Jean-Jacques Rousseau

When I was in third grade there was a pretty girl that caught my eye.  So naturally I did what any bedazzled boy would do, I slipped her a note that said: “I like you.  Do you like me?  Check yes or no.”  Well I waited and I waited, but I never saw the note again.  Downtrodden I wondered, “Why couldn’t she have just said “no” instead of keeping me in suspense?”  Similarly, we too may feel this way about whatever it is that we petition God for.  Just like the Prodigal Son we say, “Give it to me now, Lord.”  We are a fast-food culture that feeds on instant gratification, but God doesn’t work on our artificial time clock. We have to endure a process to earn the promise.  That’s how inheritance works.  God is rarely early, but He’s always on time. 

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience (Romans 8:25, ESV).