Saying that patience is a virtue is almost like saying that it’s nice to have, but one can take it or leave it. On the contrary, patience is not just a virtue, it’s a necessity. Unfortunately, in a fast-paced society like the one we live in, we can often lose sight of the importance of patience.
Many years ago, I distinctly remember praying to God to give me more patience. What I received as my answer was a bit of a two-edged sword. I began to find myself in numerous situations where I was required to wait, or to not lose my cool, or to not give up; it was like I had no choice. As frustrating and exasperating as many of these situations were, I slowly realized that my patience was being increased, much like the length of a rubber band is increased when it is stretched then released. Before I knew it, I found myself being able to have more patience when waiting in line, when people pushed my buttons beyond what I thought I could bear, and most importantly, when things didn’t happen as quickly as I’d hoped or planned.
In the latter case, I can’t emphasize how necessary it is to be patient. Without patience when waiting on the manifestation of our dreams, it’s easy to give up before we’ve received the prize of reaching our goals. No one plants a seed and then expects to see a flower or tree the next day. The majority of our technology-driven generation have lost sight of the fact that many things simply take time.
Just like many years passed before Joseph’s dreams came true, I’m just now beginning to see signs of dreams I was given years (maybe even decades) ago come to pass. I still haven’t achieved everything I dream of for this lifetime, but I’ve come a long way from where I started. Most importantly, I’ve learned to wait patiently and not lose hope. The biggest difference in how I wait now versus then is that now I don’t have the anxiety and worry that I used to because I know that with time, every thing is going to work out… even if the outcome looks a little different than what I’d imagined. Actually, often times the outcome is even better. 