The Power of Patience

Thought for today: God takes His time to accomplish His will..

Some things cannot be learned on the run. They must be learned slowly. They must be walked out through the experience of time.

It is difficult to hear God on the run. Elijah discovered this truth many years after Moses learned the same thing. Not until the prophet got quiet and waited on the high oasis on the mountain was he able to hear.

So it is with all impatient men, for God is not seen by those in rapid transit. Isaiah heard only after he pulled aside from the throng of worshipers in the temple and sat quietly in the presence of God. David heard Him on the hillside tending his lambs, alone with harp and flute. Jesus heard best when he withdrew from the mobs - even from His disciples - and took time to spend the night praying on some mountain, or kneeling alone in a garden. John the apostle, with nothing but the time of exile on his hands, heard Him as he waited patiently on the isle of Patmos.

The soft occasions do not bring out the deepest of a person. Only as we sink roots into the hard, rocky soil of the wilderness, only as we wait patiently for the bush to burn, only as we withdraw for our own forty days and forty nights of waiting, do we find the Source. The trouble, it seems, is that God is not in a hurry, and we are.

One of the greatest virtues learned in the wilderness is patience. In the desert you forget calendars. You leave your watch behind, for it is useless. You go to bed at sunset and rise at dawn. Meals are scheduled by body needs, not to satisfy clocks and appointments. In the desert, one learns to wait.

How programmed we are to produce! Goal-oriented, production-conscious, we have been trained to close each day with a question: How much did I produce today? Did I meet my quota? Everything is geared to what the production control people call "the bottom line" - which is preceded invariably by a dollar sign. It is a mentality developed by a materialistic society that places the prime emphasis on doing rather than being.

But in the wilderness, you learn patience. Here you have time - lots of it. There is time to grow still. Time to pull aside and look at a bush burn. Time to sit with friends and talk. Time to pray. Time to explore. Time to rest. Time to walk long distances without the anxiety of having to be back to meet a schedule. In the desert you rediscover the precious commodity of time.

Desert trees do not bloom on command. The date palm, for instance, produces its fruit in its season. Then it waits patiently as the next crop is prepared. No amount of commands to "Hurry up!" will make it produce faster. It waits on God’s time.

The psalmist said the blessed man is "like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither (Ps 1:3).

There are seasons when the man of God flourishes spiritually. Then there are times when the leaves of our life fall, the fruit disappears and for all appearances the tree is lifeless. But each tree has a season, and in the proper season the fruit reappears.

The psalmist equates the "blessed man" with a tree "planted by streams of water." It is a strange simile when you consider the wilderness, for there are not such rivers in the desert. The best you find is dry riverbed, a wadi, which is filled with water only on occasion.

The difference is profound. Any tree can produce when planted on the shores of a sparkling river. But in the wilderness, where there are no rivers, the fruit trees need to find nourishment in another way. The beautiful date palm for instance, which produces the most delicious of all desert fruit, finds water by sending its roots into the underground reservoirs. It does not depend on showers of blessing to keep it producing, but draws its strength from the hidden nourishment found deep in the soil of the wilderness.

This is the lesson of the desert. When your branches are barren, when all your buds have dried up, when you have drooped in discouragement, remember your roots. Remember that just beneath the sand there are underground reservoirs where the water is pure. Relax. Take your time. And know that in your season, you shall eat fruit again.

- A way Through the Wilderness by Jamie Buckingham -