 |
Fortunately for me, and for all of us, God hasn't given up on teaching us patience. In a world where everything has become "instant" or "fast" like internet, or food (except for the internet on my phone of course, which frequently resembles 1G rather than 4G), patience is a godly attribute that society is trying ever harder to be rid of.
Why Patience?
My last post was about peace and I wrote it because I was in desperate need of just that, peace. In pondering that post I realized something, a connection that I hadn't made before. My lack of patience for certain things was resulting in a lack of peace, which then, in turn, made me more impatient! It was a downward spiral of frustration! I was able to find inner peace for a time, but my impatience slowly drained that peace from me until I was nearly back where I started.
Now, not to cause any misunderstanding, I would have people know that my impatience which I refer to relates to a very specific part of my life. Overall, I'm really a rather patient and understanding individual. Anyone who knows me can verify that fact (I hope). There are just a few areas in which I really do struggle in exercising patience.
But isn't that how it is for all of us? Some things just don't get to us at all and we can handle them as cool as a cucumber while mayhem may be erupting around us. Other things, however, really get to us and while dealing with such things we can barely maintain a half calm demeanor. Think about some things that really try your patience. Now think about some things that really don't bug you at all, but really try others' patience. We're all different and we all respond differently to things. For purposes of this post keep in mind those things that try your patience. Those are the times when you may need patience the most.
I didn't remember having patience as a listed blessing in the D&C, but searched through my list of Commandments and Blessings to try and find if patience was indeed listed as a blessing for any commandment. To my pleasant surprise, I found it.
"And seek the face of the Lord always,
that in patience ye may possess your souls,
and ye shall have eternal life."
(D&C 101:38) (C&B #298)
Mull that verse over in your mind for a bit while I look at the word patience itself and how it's used in our modern vernacular.
Be Patient With Me
"Be patient with me." I think we've all used that phrase before, or we've at least thought it in some situation or another. Being impatient with each other is a frequent occurrence. But look how we use the word patience! It's so cool! We use the word "with"!!
... I don't think you realize how cool that is.
 |
| Mothers have always impressed me with the amount of patience they are capable of. |
On the other hand, impatience brings isolation. It places focus and blame, making the individual a target. "You're late, why didn't you listen to me, what took you so long, ugh- just let me do it, etc." These phrases can be destructive, depending on the tone and intent, and can cause people to feel unsupported and isolated.
There Is a Line
With some trepidation, I recognize that there is a line to make mention of here. I hope I address it appropriately. Indeed there are those individuals who constantly take advantage of the patience and long-suffering of others around them. They use others patience as excuse for laziness, or inadequate effort. They plead for second, third, fourth chances, but then squander their time and effort in idle pursuits any make little to no effort on actual change. Christ Himself, having perfect godly patience, forcefully threw the money-changers out of the temple.
There are times, not many so I say this very carefully, but there are times when it would not be wise to continue doling out second and third chances. Abuse. Rape. These are some extreme examples, but these are certainly times when, though forgiveness may still be granted, individuals are no longer worthy of our patience and it would be unwise for us to let them continue in their present course. We are to be "wise as serpents, and harmless as doves" (Matt 10:16). Be careful and prayerful when deciding to withdraw patience from someone, don't do so lightly. But if the situation requires it, be willing to move forward according to the Spirit and not look back.
For the majority of people, however, the problem is not them being being taken advantage of because of their patience, but rather the considerably more frequent problem of a lack of patience.
In Patience ye may Possess Your Souls
"And seek the face of the Lord always,
that in patience ye may possess your souls,
and ye shall have eternal life."
There is a dual blessing with this commandment. If we "seek the face of the Lord always" we may 1) "in patience possess [our] souls" and 2) "[we] shall have eternal life."
(For purposes of this post I'll focus mainly on the blessing of patience, but understand that there is certainly no blessing greater than the blessing of eternal life. I don't mean to downplay that blessing at all. This is merely a single post focusing on the development of patience. I readily look forward to the day I'm prompted to write on the incredible blessing of eternal life.)
I find the wording really interesting in relation to patience. "In patience ye may possess your souls." What does possess your soul mean? Well what is the first thing that happens when we become impatient? We lose control. We no longer maintain possession of our soul. The soul has been defined as the body + the spirit. I would open up that definition to include our actions, desires, passions, and essentially who we are. When we act out of impatience we give up a bit of the grasp we have on ourselves. Taken to an extreme, a lack of patience can result in anger and a loss of self control.
I think we all know people who have seemingly unlimited patience. They are always in control of themselves. This is one blessing of patience. That "in patience ye may have possess your souls."
I think we all know people who have seemingly unlimited patience. They are always in control of themselves. This is one blessing of patience. That "in patience ye may have possess your souls."
President Uchtdorf gave a phenomenal talk on patience in the April 2010 Conference titled "Continue in Patience." I would very very highly encourage anyone seeking a greater capacity of patience to study that inspired talk.
By seeking the face of the Lord always we qualify for greater patience and all the accompanying blessings. "The lessons we learn from patience will cultivate our character, lift our lives, and heighten our happiness." President Uchtdorf
Seeking the Face of the Lord
I don't know exactly what that phrase means, nor all the connotations of seeking the face of the Lord at all times. I have a couple of thoughts though.
In every situation at all times in your life, act as if Christ is watching you. As if every act is performed before the face of God. Which, interestingly enough, it is. But do we actually keep that in mind during our day to day lives? If we had the mindset of "What would Jesus do?" or "What if Jesus was watching?" at all times how much more Christlike would we act?
This thought of doing things as Christ would is based out of Alma 5:19 "I say unto you, can you look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenances?" It's interesting that the word "countenances" is pluralized. We wear many different "faces" for many different situations, but Christ should shine through all of them.
To take another analogy, seeking the face of God can be broken down into its individual parts.
-The eyes of God: To see situations and people as God sees them. To avoid seeing things which are vulgar or filthy.
-The ears of God: To listen to and care about others. To avoid listening to things which would drag ourselves down, including gossip and inappropriate music.-The lips of God: To always speak kind words to each other. To "[reprove] betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved." To never let vulgar or cutting language pass our lips. To keep kissing within appropriate bounds and times before marriage, and reserved for your spouse after marriage.
-The Mind of God: Think the best of people, give them the benefit of the doubt. Gain a good education. Never let impure thoughts have place in our minds.
(I've only touched on a few of the many analogies that can be drawn here, feel free to look into this more yourself. Some you might toy around with is mouth, nose, neck. Those might be healthy eating, good hygiene, and maintaining a straight course, respectively.)
The head and face are the "control panel" for the body. To seek the face of the Lord always is no easy task. Perhaps the best method is to isolate one feature of the face, write down as many possible actions with could be associated with that feature (augmenting on one of the above lists if you desire) and then making a plan to to bring forth in your "countenances" (yes, all of them) the face of the Lord.
"And seek the face of the Lord always,
that in patience ye may possess your souls,
and ye shall have eternal life."
Oh Yeah, and Pray Too
I've heard many a joke about how if you pray for patience then you'll get blasted with trials. Which, I guess, can certainly be true. But should that scare us off? Do we really have such little faith in God? Are we seriously avoiding praying for a godly attribute because of the fear that God's just looking for an excuse to rain down trials on our heads? What kind of god are you praying to then, cause that doesn't sound like the god I pray to at all. The god I pray to is my Heavenly Father who loves me more perfectly than I can comprehend and had promised to not allow me to encounter a trial that I cannot work through with his help.
Pray for patience. Trust God that He has your best interest in mind. Remember "ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you." (D&C 6:5)
Thank You For Your Patience
Although there are many more things I would like to say about patience I've given plenty of food for thought here. I have to save a few thoughts for a sacrament meeting talk somewhere down the line. ;)
May we all find a way to seek the face of the Lord today and be granted the wonderful blessing of patience.
Keep Pushing On
Andrew
No comments:
Post a Comment