In the newspaper there was an article on the subject of killing time. It was written by a Washington Post author name Caroline E. Mayer. She said that we as a nation have come to be less patient people. We want everything in a hurry. We want things, now.
No time to boil water for brewed tea? Tea companies sell teabags that let you make iced tea with cold water. To much of a hassle to use both toothpaste and mouthwash separately? A tooth paste Company combined them in its 2 in 1 product.
You need your clothes or uniform clean within an hour? Now a washing machine company sells a washer and dryer that can do the job in 30 minutes. More and more Americans have no time to wait.
McDonald’s restaurants are experimenting with radio transponders that let customers pay by waving an encoded credit card. Gas stations today in many places offer paying for your gas with special gas credit cards. There is no need to pull out your wallet or purse and count money and wait for change.
Waiting has become an intolerable experience. It is because we think we lack time and because we are conditioned to instant everything. We simply lack patience. People are looking for instant gratification. As fast as possible, please. Now!
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, tells us there is a time for everything. If you find yourself being impatient then you need to realize you are acting fleshly. Are you following the worlds conditioning to hurry to get it now. God says patience is better.
Ecclesiastes 7:8 says, “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning there of and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.”
God has commanded believers to be patient. 1 Thessalonians. 5:14 says “…..Be patient toward all men.”
Being patient and waiting can be a real blessing reminds me of the employee and the employer. The employee said, “I have been with you twenty-five years, and I have never asked for a raise before.” The employer responded, “That is why you have been with me for twenty-five years.”
Waiting is what God uses to develop our character. The problem is you cannot be patient on your own enough to a Godly extent. Why? Well, perhaps you have not been born of the Spirit.
Three words you need to remember are sure, source, and solution.
- Sure
- Source
- Solution
If you are not sure, then you will not know the source of being patient, therefore you will not have the solution. A good illustration of being sure and knowing the source and applying the solution related to time is this story.
A deacon got a speeding ticket and was attending a defensive – driving course to keep it off his insurance record. The instructor, a police officer, emphasized that being on time was crucial, and that the classroom doors would be locked at the beginning of each class.
Just after one class started, some one knocked on the locked door. The instructor opened it and asked, “Why are you late? The student that had got there late replied, “I was trying not to get another ticket.” So the instructor let him in.
Are you sure about the source, so that you can live the solution? Patience can only come through believing in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ’s work on the cross for your sin. Have you dealt with your sin?
Can you be patient the way God wants you to? If not then you have a spiritual problem. Patience is one of the fruits of the Spirit and can only be properly produced by the Holy Spirit. If you are not saved, then the Holy Spirit can not possibly produce patience in you.
Be sure that you are saved. Are you? If not then that is the first place you must began. You must have God’s help to deal with your sin. Knowing you’re a sinner leads you to being sure of Christ’s offer of salvation.
After you are sure of your salvation then you will need to know the source of all your help. Through God’s Word (the Bible) you will come to understand that God in Christ is source for your new direction. Waiting and patience will be some of the many things God (your source) will come to produce in your life.
So although the rest of society may be asking, “Is it time, yet?” Waiting patiently may become your best attribute, if you allow the Lord to do it through you. Are you waiting on God to change you? Are you impatiently asking, “Is it time, yet?”