May the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another. Romans 15:5, NKJV

A public affairs manager, available 24-hours a day to solve various problems for his clients, was summoned to the Persian Gulf War as a Naval Reservist. He left his secretary to explain to his clients that he would be halfway around the world and therefore could not be reached. Most callers understood, but one was quite indignant. “Can he be paged?” the man inquired. Even after the secretary patiently reiterated that he was serving on a ship in a war zone, the client snapped, “Do you think he will be calling in for messages?”

Sound familiar? The fast paced American culture demands immediacy. We want the answer “right here, right now!” Instead, we should learn from the source of patience who waited patiently for the Israelites as they wondered forty years in the desert. He often waits for us too as we repeat the same sin over and over. It is this attribute of God that allows him to withhold punishment toward those who sin repeatedly. Patience allows him to be “slow to anger” (Exodus 34:6). We should focus on imitating his patience which requires a moment-by-moment trust in Him to fulfill his promises and purposes in our lives at his selected time. “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways” (Psalm 37:7).

“Patience is a virtue” – Anonymous