“I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for His word.” I acknowledge like so many of you how difficult it is to wait. How difficult and how nearly impossible it is to be patient and wait patiently. We want to wait but need everyone to hurry and move along quickly and go even faster but, in the end, we really need to learn how to wait and be more patient with ourselves, with others and especially with the Lord. We need to learn from the Lord how to be patient and patiently wait for Him to respond but impatience creeps in ever so quickly. We become impatient instantly and wonder what is happening and why is this taking so long. We cry aloud and vent our frustration. We voice our discontentment at what we perceive to be the source of incompetence, laziness, lack of judgement and poor planning. We say no one understands or cares how busy we are. We believe we could accomplish so much more if we did not have to wait all the time. Impatience steadily but rapidly rises and gives way to frustration, frustration to more impatience, more impatience to anger, anger to harsh words and harsh words to… well, you get the point. We seem to spend our days endlessly waiting to get through a line. We remain in traffic and stay stuck more often than we care to. We wait and wait and wait for someone to pick up and acknowledge the call and even wait longer for a real person to provide an answer. We are so tired of hearing, “one moment please” or “we’re busy helping another customer.” We say, “Lord, grant me patience but hurry.” Patience is a great friend especially in times of unforeseen circumstances. Especially during our sojourn in this strange land. Patience is an ally in situations that seem unsettling. Even in those times when things do not turn out as we hoped or planned. I think personally how patience is a great gift, an amazing virtue, a healing remedy. How patience has taught me to wait for the Lord to lead me and to wait and pray for the grace to wait for the Lord to lead me and to pray for the grace to follow in His footsteps. So be patient and wait. Pray then wait and pray a little while longer. Our Lord is gracious and ever so kind to His busy, hurried children. God always provides. So be still, be patient and patiently wait. God will not disappoint.
