We have seen it on bumper stickers. I saw it recently on a placard in a friend’s office. Be patient with me; God has not finished with me yet.
Most of us could honestly post that message about ourselves. We want people to be patient with us. Does that not mean we need to return the favor? As we want patience for ourselves, we need to be patient with others.
In my last blog, I shared the fact that I am not an introspective person. I have to be deliberate and call myself to look honestly at my life, to examine my patterns of action and the motives that drive me. I’ve been doing that the first weeks of this new year, and my lack of patience has come glaringly to the forefront. A paramount learning is so simple, yet so profound: being patient recognizes that we are not in control.
A second learning is this: TO PRACTICE PATIENCE IS TO SHOW THAT WE VALUE PERSONS
We unconsciously display our feelings as we interact with others, and there is a sense in which we validate others by how we feel. We can feel when someone is putting out positive or negative emotional energy. Although we may not be able to tell what another is thinking, we can read the emotional tone of people with a fair degree of accuracy. That means we have to be deliberate in expressing patience.
When we are patient with another person, we are saying to that person, “I value you — you are important. I’m willing to spend my time with you and give you my attention.”
Parents, with your children… Husbands, with your wives…Wives, with your husbands…when are patient, you are saying, “I value you.” More expansive than that. All of us…being patient with folks who may appear a little “strange,” and not comfortable in social situations…they don’t think they matter to anyone. We need to be patient with them. And with those persons who are loud and boisterous, seeking to get attention because they are insecure — we need to be patient with them. And we can go on and on, because being patient is a sign that we value other persons
It’s true. God has not finished with any of us yet. We want people to be patient with us. We need to return the favor.