Today I had a wonderful friend Sydney watch my daughter while I closed a loan for my work. It ended early, which gave me some awesome time to chat with Sydney about life.
We started talking about the book "Love and Logic", and I complimented her on something I saw her doing every week with her kids at playgroup.
Every week, there is usually some bike or toy in the courts that both her children want to ride or play with at the same time. With all little kids, teaching patience and sharing can present a challenge. I love the way she handles it. She allows one child to play with the toy, and then sets a timer for the other and says something along the lines of "once this time goes off, you will get your turn." Then she tells the other child "when the timer goes off, it is your turn to share." They rotate playing with the toy and waiting for the timer to go off.
As we were talking about that I just had a random thought pop it my head. What a cool way to teach patience. They KNOW that after that timer goes off, there is a real promise of receiving the thing they waited for. They have trust in the timer, and in their mom.
Patience: the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.
Then my thoughts automatically turned to the gospel of Jesus Christ. and I thought- Patience ALWAYS has promise included in the word. Without a GUARANTEE of receiving what was offered during our time waiting- the bike. the toy, or the blessing that was promised to us, patience would be an empty promise and a lie. Can you imagine a parent saying "be patient" and then never allowing the child to have what they asked for? If a parent never intended to ever let a child have a certain thing they ask for, the answer would be straight up NO-- not "be patient."
We cannot use the words "Be Patient" without promising the recipient that they will, eventually, in time, receive the thing they are waiting for --if they are indeed, truly patient- meaning, they "accept or (I like this part of the definition) tolerate delay." Because I am not always the best at accepting patience, but I can tolerate it, and my version of tolerate usually includes many tears and sadness, but always ends with hope, and faith that God does keep his promises.
Sometimes being told to be patient is harder than "no" sometimes. At least if I get a "No" I can move on with my life not constantly wondering when I will finally get to ride that bike. How long must we wait? I would be curious one day to see if my friend set the timer just a little longer than what her children usually expect, what would they do? At what point would their trust in their mom turn to complaining? Or at what point would they try to take justice into their own hands and try to seize the bike for themselves since obviously their mother is NEVER going to have the timer go off. Maybe it it not the same time as other kid's timers, maybe some kids have their own bike, and don't even have to worry about being patient, maybe some kid's parents tell them exactly how long they will need to wait. Many different factors could cause a little child to become frustrated and turn to anger and yell to their mom. "Am I EVER going to get a turn?!! It is not fair that my timer is different than others! Am I ever going to be able to ride the bike? "How much trust do we have in our Heavenly Father when he tells us to "be patient?" When we see all the others around us being blessed in different ways, times, and circumstances, it is hard not to ask sometimes. WHY? Why do I need to be patient?
For God, patience is not about the bike nor the blessing- although I am know he delights in making us happy. But just like any parent, he is testing our trust, and hope in him. Can we wait, and prove our love and trust in him is true? At what point do we turn from him? At what point do we take matters into our own hands and try to force his will?
Or how long do we wait for him? And every so often saying "Heavenly Father, I KNOW, I will get my turn. Patience is a Promise. I trust you with all of my heart, and you have instructed me to be patient, can you help me to not throw a tantrum while I am waiting my turn? Can you help me suppress my anger and jealously for my brother who has been riding the bike for like 50 minutes now and I still haven't even touched it? Can you help me find hope? And Heavenly father, is it my turn yet?"
Sometimes he replies, "not yet." once again. But their is hope. There is always hope. So when God tells us to "be patient" we should rejoice. There is an eternal promise, and hope in his words 'Be patient". You WILL receive the blessing you have so diligently asked for. God cannot lie, and He keeps his promised perfectly.
