What are some of the consequences of impatience?

Genesis 16:1-2Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal.

Impatience may cause us to rush ahead and take matters into our own hands. At first we may trust that God will handle the situation, but when the answer is slow in coming, we begin to think that God needs some help. Sarai knew that she was to have a child, but God waited twenty-five years to make this promise come true. In the meantime, Sarai took matters into her own hands and created a mess. When we trust God, we need to trust him completely, even if it means having to wait.

1 Samuel 13:8-14Saul waited there seven days for Samuel, as Samuel had instructed him earlier, but Samuel still didn’t come. Saul realized that his troops were rapidly slipping away. So he demanded, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings!” And Saul sacrificed the burnt offering himself. Just as Saul was finishing with the burnt offering, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to meet and welcome him, but Samuel said, “What is this you have done?” Saul replied, “I saw my men scattering from me, and you didn’t arrive when you said you would, and the Philistines are at Micmash ready for battle. So I said, ‘The Philistines are ready to march against us at Gilgal, and I haven’t even asked for the Lord’s help!’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering myself before you came.” “How foolish!” Samuel exclaimed. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. Had you kept it, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”

Impatience can lead to disobedience, causing you to miss God’s blessings in your life.

Numbers 21:4-7Then the people of Israel set out from Mount Hor, taking the road to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient with the long journey, and they began to speak against God and Moses. “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?” they complained. “There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this horrible manna!” So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many were bitten and died. Then the people came to Moses and cried out, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take away the snakes.” So Moses prayed for the people.

Impatience can lead to complaining, blaming, and bitterness. It leads to God’s punishment because it causes us to sin; it must be resolved by repentance.

Exodus 32:1When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.”

Proverbs 14:29People with understanding control their anger; a hot temper shows great foolishness.

Impatience can lead to poor choices, including giving up on God. It leads to our exchanging trust in God for trust in people or things that become our idols.