You also must be patient. –St. James
We live in an age where we want things now. We have fast food, microwaves, express lanes, and instant oatmeal. And although these amenities aren’t bad at all, we can get so conditioned to having the things we want now, that we lose the ability to be patient.
Patience is the ability to keep going when things don’t happen as quickly or as easily as we’d like—to graciously handle delay, and even hardship along the way.
Now, to be patient doesn’t mean we grow apathetic, stop working, and simply say, “que sera, sera.” Rather, being patient means we keep going, we keep moving forward—or standing firm—regardless of how quickly or slowly things seem to go.
The farmer who sows seed has to wait for the crop—it doesn’t grow overnight. But waiting doesn’t mean doing nothing. There may be watering or weeding or preparation for harvest. And when harvest time arrives, there will obviously be much work to be done. But there’s no way to rush the process. And to try to do so, may actually be detrimental.
In life, things that are worthwhile usually take time—a lot of it. Nurturing relationships, developing our character, learning our craft, building a business or organization—things like these don’t happen overnight, but will require ongoing investment, hard work, and ultimately, patience—the patience to keep working, to keep investing, to keep moving forward, even when our desired results don’t happen as quickly or as easily as we’ve been conditioned to expect.