Patience must be a four-letter word. Aha, I found it. It’s yuck! Maybe you feel the same way I do more often than not. I understand.

A Need for Patience

I faced a mountain of paperwork each day as I worked on my taxes. I wanted to start them early, but the proper forms didn’t arrive until the week before my tax appointment. As a single again person, I couldn’t say to someone, “Honey, add these to your to-do list.”

This honey had to do them. In a marathon to finish, my neck hurt, and my shoulders ached. My lower back screamed for relief. My neck felt as if someone glued it looking down at the monitor. Talk about a need for patience to continue.

What kept me going? A deadline. There’s nothing like a deadline. When snow, rain, or ice appeared, I didn’t mind staying indoors to finish. However, a couple of warm, sunny days in a row came along, and patience became a four-letter word again. Yuck.

Opportunities to Practice Patience

A widow rushed to get ready for the arrival of her daughter and son-in-law. She experienced a dizzy spell and passed out. After this happened again, she spent time in the hospital and in rehab because of a heart problem and surgery. She learned not to ignore warning signs and received daily opportunities to practice patience.

God tells us, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance” (James 1:2–3 NIV). Another word for perseverance is patience or endurance. When trials come, my first thought is not to consider them “pure joy.” What about you?

The Result of Endurance

The irony of tax season is some of the online days, such as March 22, National Bavarian Crepes Day and National Goof Off Day. How can we go for curbside delivery of Bavarian Crepes or prepare them at home, goof off and meet our deadlines?

God addresses that situation. “Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:4 NIV). Sometimes my will tells me I don’t need to be that mature and complete. One woman with back and feet limitations danced away the night before a special event. The day of it, she couldn’t get out of bed and celebrate. Maybe my dancing friend felt the same way I did.

Another problem day is March 24. It’s National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day, National Cheesecake Day, and the National American Diabetes Association Alert Day on the fourth Tuesday of March. I enjoy almost any fruit or vegetable dipped in dark chocolate. You may delight in the cheesecake. How do we reconcile those sugary items with National Diabetes Association Alert Day or National Triglycerides Day on March 28?

The way to get perseverance

Since we can’t reconcile the days in the paragraph above, we have to choose. Our first choice is to walk in the flesh. We can deceive ourselves and celebrate National I Am in Control Day. Our second choice is to “Walk by the Spirit, and [we] will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16 NIV).

How do we get what we need to make the right choice on a more consistent basis? For the answer, let’s circle back to the book of James. It says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:5 NIV).

I will ask God for what I need to be patient. What will you do?

Related Posts:

Internal related post on my website:

https://yvonneortega.com/when-you-dont-know-what-to-do/

External related post: 

Five Things To Do When You Don’t Know What To Do

Copyright © by Yvonne Ortega March 4, 2021