Make Haste Slowly!
In today’s world, everything is fast-paced. Fast foods
have replaced traditional meals; today’s children are the “indomie (noodles)
generation”. Impatience is so rife that it has become difficult for people to
take time to prepare proper meals that they can afford! Many are digging their
graves with their forks and knives. Cancer cases are at an all time high, some
caused by what we eat. Traditional ways of doing things are fast eroding. I
hail the advent of the internet and everything else that has made life easier
for us. However, some things still need time to turn out well. Nature teaches
us the value of time. Seeds need time to become trees. Pregnancies should run
full term before normal, healthy babies are delivered. A man cannot impregnate nine
women and expect to have children one month after, it takes nine months to
deliver one baby. Children need time to grow, so does money and investments. No
one eats a week old chick. (Maybe with the exception of the Chinese; they eat
anything!) I recall with amazement a documentary I once saw in which a leopard
approached a trench that had warthogs in it. The leopard could not see the
warthogs, but it could smell them, it knew they were there and it was too
difficult and dangerous to get inside the trench. So what did it do? It waited!
From the evening of that day into the morning of the next day, for a period of
about twelve hours, it waited! As soon as the first warthog came out the
trench, the leopard struck and killed it.
God is very patient
with us, if not we wouldn’t be here now! He allows us learn, make our mistakes
and he forgives us. God doesn’t give up on people. We should be patient with other
people as well. The next time you are tempted to be impatient with anyone,
think of how patient God and other people have been with you. People change for
good, children grow, and things will get better with time. With patience, self
examination and a will to change, bad habits will be dropped, and life can
become beautiful for you. With patience, a crawling child will eventually run
and he’ll stop using diapers! Patience is an attribute of love; 1st
Cor 13:4. When our children err, we must correct them in love or else we may
ruin their psyche for life. It takes patience to relate properly with teenagers(remember
you were once one), colleagues at work, friends, on the queue at d bank, and while
driving on the high way. Patience is nonexistent until it is tested.
Life throws blows at us sometimes; only with patience can
we regain balance and overcome trials. Without patience, we would easily be
disappointed and give up on our big dreams. It takes patience for emotional scars
to heal, as far as breath is intact, there is no injury that will not heal. Wounded
relationships and marriages can heal with time. Divorce rates will be
drastically reduced if the parties concerned were just a bit more patient; if
they hesitated a bit more before indulging in verbal and physical abuse, before
cheating. I know that patience can be demanding sometimes, especially in
marriage; with someone you get to see every day, someone who makes the same
‘mistakes’ so often. However, with all the factors duly considered, patience is
cheaper than the absence of it. In fact, impatience in the choice of a spouse
is often the cause of turbulent marriages in the first place. The prodigal son
realised the error of his ways with time and returned home without anyone
speaking with him.
“Patience gives your spouse permission to be human. It
understands that everyone fails. When a mistake is made, it chooses to give
them more time that they deserve to correct it. It gives you the ability to
hold on during the rough times in your relationship rather than bailing out
under the pressure.”
― Stephen Kendrick, The Love Dare
― Stephen Kendrick, The Love Dare
Impatient folks cannot get the best out of life. They
are prone to error and failure because their judgement is poor and their views
are distorted. Esau traded his birthright (which was to affect many
generations) for one meal. Just one meal! If he had eaten it in the morning, he
would have been hungry again by evening on the same day. We weren’t told in
that account that there was a famine, so why the impatience and desperation!
Many are in the prison; some in the grave because of impatience. Those who live
too fast often die young.
“He that can have patience can have what he will.”
― Benjamin Franklin
― Benjamin Franklin
Patience is not only about the length of time, but it
is the state of the heart; do not only wait, but wait in faith with the right
attitude. Patience is not inaction or laziness, it is proper action. As seen in
the example of the leopard in the introduction, it waited to strike at the
right time and didn’t allow the first warthog to come out and stroll along
leisurely. Patience helps us concentrate and pay attention. It is a condition
for fulfilment and answered prayers, Heb. 6:12. Abraham in the bible waited for
25 years before his Promised child was born. Due to his patience, he became a
reference point for blessings forever. You can’t get what God has not given to you
at the time he has not given it to you. Any attempt to do so will end in bitter
regret. If you make an order for any item, once you pay the price, it is
already yours, though it may take some time for the company to make the
delivery. I am reminded of the story of a greedy African couple who decided to
use their child for money ritual (voodoo cum human sacrifice which is believed
to bring stupendous wealth). They went ahead to sacrifice the child, yet they
remained poor. They lost their child, lost a good conscience and peace of mind
and still remained poor. I must remind the young people reading this article
that you will also make it big, become rich and famous, and live the life of
your dreams. When and how will this be you ask? I don’t know, but I’m certain
that it will take some time and a dint of hard and smart work. Fulfilment for
some will come very early, for others; it may not be so early but it will come
eventually! Some will become CEOs of reputable organisations in their 30s, for
others it won’t happen till their late 50s. If you are not there yet, it
doesn’t mean you won’t get there; delay is not denial. These things differ
according to God’s plan & sovereignty, individual character and
disposition, e.t.c. My mother says ‘with patience, you can cook a stone till it
becomes soft’.
“Patience is power. Patience is not an absence of
action; rather it is "timing" it waits on the right time to act,
or the right principles and in the right way.”
― Fulton J. Sheen
or the right principles and in the right way.”
― Fulton J. Sheen
“Patience and wisdom walk hand in hand, like two
one-armed lovers.”
― Jarod Kintz, $3.33
― Jarod Kintz, $3.33
Patience is a condition for the fulfilment of destiny.
God’s promises may not come to pass tomorrow morning. As far as He is
concerned, the means also justifies the end. The process is as important as the
product. Moses was trained in Pharaoh’s household and he was prepared by God
for the deliverance of Israel from Egypt all his life, but he wasn’t given
specific instructions by God to kick-start Israel’s deliverance from Egypt
until he was 80 years old! He was zealous by killing the Egyptian who fought
the Israelite; this tells us that he had an idea of purpose as far back as when
he was a young man. Moses may have become a warlord, rebel, terrorist or
dissident in his zeal/attempt to facilitate Israel’s deliverance before time.
If this had been the case, his movement would have been crushed, and he would
have been killed by Pharaoh’s superior, and unrivalled military might in his
heyday. Timing (inspired by patience for strategic planning and clarity of
direction) is important in fulfilment. Barrack Obama would never have become
the President of the U.S. if he ran for the office eight years before he eventually
did. Setting out too early sometimes may be just as disastrous as starting too
late. If you have two hours to cut down
a tree, it may be worth it to spend one and a half sharpening your axe and
resolving the direction of the fall. Recall that Jesus already knew his purpose
when he was 12 years old; reasoning with the elders at the temple after his
parents forgot him there. Despite his divine nature, he didn’t start his
ministry until he was 30 years old and the ministry lasted only 3.5 years after
which he hung patiently and endured pain on a cross he could have easily come
down from. Joseph had authentic, divinely inspired dreams but had to go through
hatred and betrayal from his brothers, captivity in Egypt, servitude and
temptation in Potiphar’s household and imprisonment on death row; all spanning
a period of 13 years before his dreams came through and his ascendancy to the post
of Prime Minister in a foreign land. Abraham set out of his community on divine
instruction, not knowing where he was going. He patiently followed and obeyed
until he found his utopia and received the fulfilment of God’s promises.
“The two hardest tests on the spiritual road are the
patience to wait for the right moment and the courage not to be disappointed
with what we encounter.”
― Paulo Coelho, Veronika Decides to Die
― Paulo Coelho, Veronika Decides to Die
“Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.”
― Aristotle
― Aristotle
Moses could not have brought Israel out of Egypt
without God’s help. The Egyptians were simpler stronger and more
technologically advanced in warfare. Joseph would not have attained greatness
without God’s help. In the forgoing examples you will observe that brute force
and exclusive human effort cannot achieve much. There is no such thing as a
self made man. Whether we realise/admit it or not, man is nothing and can
achieve nothing without God’s help (let the atheists note this too). Patience aids
good judgement and maturity. God is usually not in a hurry with the most
important things. No one desires barrenness and children born at the expected
time often attain greatness, however I have observed that barren mothers in the
bible often gave birth to special children.
“Trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.”
― Molière
― Molière
A look at the billionaires in the world today (with
the exception of heirs) shows that most of them are beyond 50 years old, this
is because money also grows. As long as we are alive, we must patiently and
consistently keep at what God has called us to do. It takes patience,
consistent and conscientious work to attain the peak of ANY career. Never give
up on something you really want or need, it may be difficult to wait, but it
worse to regret later. I conclude with the words of Shikamaru Nara, “There's no advantage to hurrying through
life."
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