People and situations can provoke us, giving us occasion for impatience and even anger! OK, maybe not in your life, but it happens to me. Sometimes, especially when I'm rushed or fatigued, it doesn't take much to fire me up. It can be a little old lady who goes a little too slow in the fast lane. There are more significant fuels that feed the fire of my impatience, too. In that group I would put those people who whine and complain about life in general even when they have it good; those people who are constant critics that find fault no matter what is done or how well it is done; those people who do next to nothing for the group but freely express their opinions about how others should do the work; those who are thoughtless and who impose themselves on others with no sense of how overbearing they are.... yes, I need to stop now. It is not always people who make me impatient. Sometimes it is just hard to wait out the processes of the systems that I am part of in this world. I really like to get the job done, but that's not always possible.
I am sure you could make your own list of people who bug you, and that it would be different from mine. I am sure, too, that the things that make you want to quit would be different from my list. Why? Because we differ in experience, personality, and values. The Bible has a word for all of us in regard to this - Long-suffering. It's an interesting word that in our modern translations usually appears as 'patience.' The Greek(the language in which it was first written) text of the New Testament says that we need makrothumia! (mak·roth·oo·mee·ah) It's a compound word: makros which in terms of place means 'remote,' and by extension means long, long-lasting; and, thumos which refers to passion and anger. Together they indicate, in our idiom, having a very long fuse! The word also carries the meaning of steadiness and endurance.
One place in the New Testament where we find the word, makrothumia, or long-suffering, is in Galatians 5, in the list of those qualities which give evidence of the life of the Spirit in us. As we let God do the quietly miraculous work of transforming us into the likeness of Christ, we become patient, steady people. We finish what He calls us to start regardless of the people who provoke us along the way, in spite of situations that arise that would cause others to just give up.
There is a key to becoming a person of steady endurance, who is patient with people and life. That key? Vision! Without a vision, we end up just being reactors, bouncing off situations and circumstances, ping ponging through life! But with Spirit-inspired vision, we set our sight on the goal, take hold of the hope God puts in us and we stay the course, through Hell and high water.
I have a good friend named Phil who set out 6 years ago to build his own airplane!! No, not a model one, but a real one. Last night, he emailed me pictures of that beautiful bird with this caption, "my airplane flew tonight!" What an accomplishment. He spent countless hours alone in his garage setting rivets, tightening bolts, etc. When he first showed me his 'airplane,' all I saw was an aluminum tube. But, he 'saw' (the vision thing) an airplane and from his vision derived the inspiration to keep working, and working, and working. Today, he enjoys the fruit of his labor.
The Bible points to Jesus Christ as a Model for makrothumia! Take this word from the Word with you today. Pray for God, the Holy Spirit, to make it real - and when you're tested by one of those people who push your buttons, or by circumstances that resist your best efforts - let God develop long-suffering.
-- "Never quit! ... Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.
When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!" - Hebrews 12:1-3 The Message
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