Hurry Up
By Jason Glaze
Have you ever noticed that impatience seems to be a character flaw that almost everyone in the world struggles with? If I told you that being impatient has never been one of my issues I would have to follow that up by saying that self-delusion has been. However, I can honestly say that God has brought me a long way in this area. I never thought I would have come as far as I have which gives me great hope for the future.
I’m not saying this about myself in a boastful way. I’m saying this because I talk to so many people who seem to have this belief that impatience is so much a part of who they are that they think it can never get better. We often talk about being impatient like it’s some kind of incurable disease. When we believe that about ourselves we end up acting it out like a self-fulfilled prophecy and we begin to passively accept the destruction that impatience brings along with it.
Here is what really helped me out when it comes to being patient. A couple of years ago God began to show me that I had the strong tendency to get so focused on a goal that I ignored the process of the journey as I headed toward that goal. I was so focused on the destination that the journey felt like an inconvenience that I would rather just skip, and even though I knew in reality that I couldn’t skip the journey I had the mentality that I must merely tolerate it. God then began to show me that from His point of view the journey was the whole point.
It’s in the journey that change happens. It’s where I grow and mature. The journey is where I have the opportunity to experience God as He walks with me and He loves me way too much to hurry me through it. God began to reveal to me that what I thought the destination would bring was actually found in the middle on the journey.
I’m thankful for this new perspective and this new found truth, and even though I haven’t fully arrived yet, for me the journey is no longer merely tolerated, but highly anticipated.
Jason Glaze
Sue Monk Kidd writes that “Pain buried in a field of patience,produces a harvest of beautiful fruit.” I’m still waiting.
Thanks for that! That’s good stuff.