Have Patience

Have Patience

If we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.

Romans 8:25

As a mom of three preschoolers, one thing I often find myself saying is, “Have patience.” Sometimes I even sing part of a song about patience that I learned in Vacation Bible School when I was a child.

If there is one virtue that rises above the others when it comes to the Amish, it’s patience. This story is an example of that:

Linda sat with her son in the emergency room of their local hospital, waiting to be seen by a doctor. Her son had twisted his ankle playing a game of basketball and she worried he might have caused serious damage to it.

After ten minutes, her son grew fidgety and impatient. “This is going to take forever,” he moaned.

Seated across from them was a young Amish couple. The wife had taken a spill and hurt her shoulder. They sat calmly, though Linda noticed the wife wince in pain whenever she shifted in her seat. Finally, the nurse came out and motioned to the Amish man. He jumped up to help his wife rise to her feet. Linda heard him say to her, “Now, Katie, that wasn’t too bad a wait. Only an hour.”

To the Amish, being patient, waiting, and yielding to others are marks of maturity. But first, they must decide whether they want to be mature. Growing in maturity requires a choice to wait and to yield and an understanding that God is the One who is ultimately in charge of meeting their needs.

To wait is to trust. It’s to believe that our needs will be taken care of, that God is worthy of our confidence. He is also the One who will help us be patient with others.

Dear heavenly Father, patience is the hardest thing to pray for because it goes against my nature, but right now, I’m praying exactly for that.