To Be: Patient

To Be: Patient

patient: 1. bearing or enduring pain, difficulty, provocation, or annoyance with calmness. 2. tolerant; understanding. 3. capable of calmly awaiting an outcome or a result; not hasty or impulsive.

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” (Romans 12:12)


In our fast-food eating, cell-phone toting, on-demand watching culture we aren’t asked to wait for much, are we? Most of our needs can be met in mere minutes. This is wonderful and convenient, until we smack up against a need or want that can’t be met with the click of a mouse, pop of a pill, or ding of a microwave.

When people don’t act according to our plan or events don’t happen according to our timetable, we realize how easy it is to lose our patience. Sometimes our fallen world forces us to wait for good things—and our heart aches as we try our best to be patient.