Tag Archives: impatience

Theology

What Impatience Really Is (and Why You Need to Deal with It)

People who do things the wrong way are fools and people who get in my way are even worse.

That’s a nasty thought, but it’s undoubtedly one that crosses my mind more often than I’d care to admit. [It looks worse in text than it does when it runs through my mind, but we all know it’s equally horrifying either way.]

I’ve long-confessed that I’m impatient. My honesty about my lack of patience made my feel ok that I was a ticking time bomb.

impatient-kid

As I reflected back on my time overseas in Slovenia, I realized that one blatant sin that summed up my whole year was impatience.

  • Impatience with students when they didn’t believe the gospel.
  • Impatience with Christian students who didn’t want to grow or share their faith.
  • Impatience with my wife when she didn’t meet unspoken expectations I didn’t even realize I had.
  • Impatience with God when he didn’t answer prayers according to my timing.
  • Impatience with myself when sin continued to creep up or self-improvement didn’t come as quickly as I hoped.

I listened to a sermon that is as old as I am (nearly to the day!) by John Piper entitled, “Battling the Unbelief of Impatience.”

The title alone struck me. I had never heard impatience framed that way–not believing faithfully in God.

Here’s a quote from Piper to set the tone.

“Patience in doing the will of God is not an optional Christian virtue because faith is not optional and impatience is the fruit of unbelief. It is no minor skirmish.”

Ouch. Impatience is a big deal. It’s a faith issue. Continue reading →

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Theology

Reese’s Puffs and Impatience

It’s nearly a daily occurrence for me to throw up a half-hearted-mid-chew prayer to God as I eagerly dive into a bowl of Reese’s Puffs.

It’s more than a rushed supplication. It’s an indicator of a deeper issue.

I’m impatient. I’m too impatient to take a half a minute to thank God for his provision. I’m too impatient to consistently and continually seek God in prayer. I’m too impatient to ignore a phone call or text or tweet, so instead I choose to interrupt a conversation with a real, live human being that I’m talking to face-to-face. I’m too impatient to sit down for 20 minutes and write a single blog post in one sitting (this line is being added in during round three). And I’m certainly far too impatient to deal with customer service over the phone.

Image provided by stock.xchng

It’s hard to be patient (mostly because of the whole waiting thing).

As a result of a constantly connected world, I’m in the habit of constantly disconnecting from God. It’s rare for me to make it much longer than a few moments in the awareness of God’s presence.

I’m impatient because I think the next item will satisfy me more than my current situation.

I think Reese’s Puffs are more satisfying then a moment thanking the God of the universe for providing for me.
I think a tweet or text or call is more satisfying than genuine human connection.
I think something I can buy is more satisfying than Jesus, who has given himself to me freely.

Let’s not let the next moment get in the way of the current one, especially if the current one is with the Lord.

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