My biggest vice is impatience.
In my mind, I’m always a million steps ahead of my current situation. I always just want to get going.
My wife, Jennine, and I have been contemplating moving for about a year now. Now we live in Thornhill, but we would like to move to a halfway point between Brampton and St. Catharines – where our families live.
Now our goal is to move at the end of May. In order to get a head start on packing (and to save money on moving) I decided to drive from St. Catharines to Thornhill yesterday morning to pack all non essential items in our apartment.
Jennine insisted that I wait for a couple of days so her mom can babysit and she can accompany me. I was super determined.
I had this vision of sitting on our living room sofa proudly glaring at all the efficiently packed boxes. So, I told Jennine to not worry because I have a plan and it’s best that I do this on my own.
So I spent half the day packing, fine china (inherited from Jennine’s nana), electronics, books and toys. Around 4pm, I have attained my vision of proudly sitting on the living room sofa starring at the packed boxes. Except I ran into a problem.
Our unit is on the 6th floor and the boxes were heavy. In addition, there was a ways to go to my car and I forgot to bring a dolly.
Too proud to admit that I didn’t think things through, I decided to bring down one box at a time. By the time I finished placing all the boxes in my car, every muscle in my body was aching. My legs, arms and back were killing me!
Placing my pride aside for a moment, I have to admit that if I exercised some patience by listening to my wife, we would have been able to pack more things and bringing the boxes downstairs would have taken a fraction of the time, not to mention I could have spared my body.
Impatience is the Root of Many Problems
I think impatience is at the root of many our problems.
In Numbers 21:4-9, the Israelite are being led by Moses from Mount Hor, around the Red Sea, to Edom. This was a treacherous trip and the Israelites quickly became impatient with Moses. They complained,
“Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.”
In response to their complaint it reads, “Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people and many Israelites died.”
God repeatedly emphasizes to the Israelites that they will reach the Promised Land though miracles. The biggest miracle being the parting of the Red Sea, which lead not only to their freedom from slavery, but also to the vanquishing of their Egyptian masters.
Yet the Israelites complained and complained. In response to their impatience, God kept the Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years before reaching Canaan – The Promised Land. The Israelites had to learn patience by experiencing some hardships – the consequences of their impatience.
Digging Ourselves into a Deeper Hole
Impatience is rarely rewarding. When we act out of impatience, we often add to our burdens.
I was impatient when it came to packing. Currently, I’m living with consequences of my impatience – soar muscles. Now, due to my physical pain, we will have to put off packing the rest of our stuff for a later date.
Because of my impatience, my goal has become further out of reach.
We are fortunate to live in an era where we can get what we want, when we want. At the swipe of a finger we access to countless videos, any food we want and communication with anyone we want. It’s hard to learn patience when we have “instant” everything. So, when we are forced to be patient it can be excruciating.
How do you struggle with impatience? Do you have a story about impatience backfiring?
Let us pray,
Almighty God, We thank you for our daily conveniences and comforts. During this time of forced retreat, help us to overcome any impatience and restlessness. Give us the mental strength to take time aside to listen to the movements of your Holy Spirit in our day.
Amen.
