Daily Power #122

Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city. (Prov. 16:32)

How often do you get impatient during a typical day? If you’re like me, it’s more often than you’d like. It’s not only wishing rush-hour traffic would move faster, but it’s wanting people and situations to happen at our speed and not some slower, unknown pace. You think, why won’t she do the right thing? Why won’t he apologize? Why can’t the kids obey me this one time? Why doesn’t my boss recognize my talent? Why do I put up with this?

The sad thing is that many of us show our impatience most frequently with the people we love. We snap and bite our spouse’s head off with our response. We raise our voices at our kids or follow through with the consequences we’ve been threatening. “Don’t make me pull this car over! Okay, that’s it!” (Sound familiar, or is it just me?)

It’s only natural that we get impatient and want to control the people and events around us. We want our lives paced to our preferred speed and not determined by factors that are out of our hands. But the reality is that no matter how much we think we can control our lives, ultimately, we have to trust God and his timing.

His eternal perspective reminds us that most of what feels urgent to us today isn’t all that important. So cultivate patience for those moments—especially with other people—when you’re forced to wait.

Power Lift

Lord, you know how much I struggle with being patient. Today I want to slow down, relax, and follow your perfect sense of timing.