It has become a trend to receive instant gratification: We want it now, so we should get it now. This generation has been colloquially dubbed the Microwave Generation.
With the idea of instant gratification being the norm, dissatisfaction and disaster are not too far behind. In fact, rushing ahead almost guarantees these are the result. We must find a way to combat these problems, but how?
The answer is simple enough: wait. Patience is not only important, but it proves to be the most rewarding, and for those on a schedule, cost-effective method of using your time.
How important could patience be? Why should we exercise patience? How could waiting around possibly pay off for anything?
These questions may be common to someone who has come to this roadblock in life. However, waiting can have the potential to pay off, as it has in the past.
In the biblical book of Joshua, the Israelites had to march around the walls surrounding Jericho every day for six days.
On the seventh, the march would be the same, except for one thing: The horns would blow, and the people were to make a great shout. After this, the walls fell, and the city was theirs in a decisive sweep of the enemy forces.
So what does this story have to do with patience? Surely none of us are waiting to lay siege to a large city and move on into foretold ground.
What we desire may not be as as extreme as taking over a city, but the timing of the battle was meant to prove a point.
God wanted the battle to begin and conclude in that lengthy fashion because it would be God who would deliver the victory for his people.
Sure, God could have very well let his people storm the walls and tear the place asunder, but it would have taken God out of the picture entirely.
God wanted to show his people that the victory was delivered by him.
God gave the Israelites the victory, but only after they did what was commanded, walked the city and did nothing else until it was time.
That is something we tend to forget: God always works within the right time — his timing. His timing is always perfect.
All that is required of those who believe is to wait on that timing, no matter how long we are required to wait. Like Paul wrote in Galatians 6:9, “Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
Patience is key if you want to achieve anything in life. Whether what we are waiting for is a job offer, test results, or on a romantic interest to pursue, it is important to remain patient and remain hopeful.
As Paul reminds us in Ecclesiastes 7:8, “Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.”
Patience will always produce fruitful results, but it requires us to up our inclination towards immediate gratification.
