“My patience is running thin.”
“My patience is up to here.”
“Do not test my patience right now.”
I cannot tell you how many times I have heard these phrases said in the setting of a grocery store, restaurant, church, etc. They are usually accompanied by a parent wearing a frustrated facial expression and a child testing their limits. We all our guilty of those moments. At some point or another we have all reached the end of our fuse, whether it is with work, family, friends, or even God. We have all had the blow up moment where we throw our hands in the air and say things in the heat of the moment that we will regret later.
Instant Gratification
We live in a culture that is continually shifting toward a mindset of instant gratification. Nowadays I am able to walk into Starbucks, go straight to the counter, pick up my drink and leave. No line, no waiting. The internet has allowed us to access almost any type of information we desire, immediately. This has changed not only the way we operate in life, but also in business. Everything is at the edge of our fingertips and we have become so used to this idea of instant gratification that we have almost forgotten what it looks like to be patient and wait. Yet, the hard truth that we often forget is God doesn’t operate on our time and our agenda.
Patience In Business
As Christian business owners you are called to walk out your faith in every area of our life, that includes the workplace. Running a business can be taxing, you have deadlines to meet, people to manage, budgets to make, and clients to please. Our desires are often to see the fruits of our labor instantly, we want to see our success unfold immediately before our eyes. Yet, God desires us to trust in His timing and to wait on Him. In Galatians, Paul talks about combating the desires of the flesh with the fruits of the spirit; one of them being patience.
As a business owner, here are a few tips on displaying patience within your business:
- Practice patience within your business. Allow yourself, your employees and your business to develop and be patient when things may not be going the way you expected. Be patient with God and allow Him to guide you and your business.
“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” Romans 12:9-122
- Pray for Patience. Ask the Lord daily to give you patience throughout your day. Pray that the fruits of His spirit would be on display in your life and that others may see Christ in you.
- Read God’s Word. Seek out what scripture says about patience. Read it, absorb it, try to memorize it, and apply it to your life. When you feel like the fuse is about to burn out, repeat to yourself
In our fast-paced society that is consumed with instant gratification, we are straying more and more from opportunities to be patient. We get what we want when we want it and if we don’t, we have our own version of the 4-year-old melting down in the middle of Target. At least I do anyway. God desires for us to seek Him and wait on His timing. Be patient with God and what He is doing in your business, after all He goes before us and makes a path.
“Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly.” Proverbs 14:29
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