Patience is... hard, to say the least. There are two general ways of being patient. The first is momentary patience. This is the waiting-in-line-in-the-store-with-a-crying-kid-in-the-stroller-in-front-of-you patience. This is the kind of patience that teachers, babysitters, elder siblings, and tails-stepped-on-old-dogs have. It is temporary, a minor itch waiting to be soothed. Not that this minority lessens its importance. You see these day-to-day temporary situations reveal quite a bit about our hearts. When the kid in front of you is crying, will you stand there and complain about how "some people" or will you lend a hand to the mother? Maybe you could help her unpack her cart while she distracts the little one? I assure you that you probably won't change any lives but they do reveal your true heart. But this temporary patience isn't what I want to focus on...
No instead I want to look at a greater, deeper kind of patience. The kind of patience that endures as a solid ache for months or years. Think of the Israelites wondering the dessert, think of mothers patiently waiting to meet their unborn child, think of Anne Frank waiting to be free from an attic. This sort of patience is much harder than the day to day stuff. It is years of praying and hearing the answer no and continuing to pray. It is desire and longing. It is waiting in it's truest sense.
So why is the ability to wait important for a bold life? Because we only wait for things that are important to us, things that matter. When we wait, especially when we wait with that deeper sense of patience, God usually rewards in a way that is utterly astounding! It is not always the answer we want, but it is always worthwhile.
So here it is: have dreams and wait patiently – in time God will reward you!
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