Africa-Press – Malawi. We live in an instantaneous generation which has very little regard for patience. We want things done now, today, tonight. What we do not know sometimes is that the more we pursue our craving for quick results, the more we find ourselves distanced from the discipline and essence of patience.
Fast food, fast internet speed, fast vehicles, fast money, fast planes, fast life, fast everything. Many people do not realise that Malawians are gradually becoming addicted to fast life just like the west.
Our lives are slowly but surely becoming slaves to quick life. My father once told me that long time ago, graduates from the university like him always waited for some years before they rose into positions of key leadership at work or business.
“No matter how much knowledge you accumulate in college,” my father lectured me once: “you need to be humble to those who have stayed longer in the business and tap from their vast experience.”
Today, most graduates do not have the patience to wait for a promotion. If promotion does not come sooner, they quickly change jobs. Looking for greener pastures becomes their slogan.
Little do they remember that a rolling stone gathers no moss. The fact that you have a bachelor’s or master’s degree does not guarantee you to rise swiftly through the corridors of power and influence in your business or company.
Sometimes you may have to wait patiently. The now generation is an impatient generation. People start business today and a few months later, they want to buy a car from the profit made.
Why can’t you wait a little more for the business to stabilise? Spending beyond our means is no longer a scary issue in this modern day world of company and bank loans.
It does not matter if everyone is buying a car. If your finances cannot allow a car for now, why should you squeeze yourself? Why can we not be realistic with ourselves and stop pretending?
The desire to get good things quickly can be dangerous and disastrous. Even in the area of relationships, patience is a virtue. People meet today in the bus, few weeks down the line, they are in a full-blown relationship.
Six months later, invitation cards are circulating around. An engagement party is on the way! Why not wait a little more? Why can’t you take a little more time to know each other? There is a German proverb that likens patience to a bitter plant which bears sweet fruit.
Ferderick W. Faber once said: “We must wait for God, long, meekly, in the wind and wet, in the thunder and lightning, in the cold and the dark. Wait and He will come. He never comes to those who do not wait.” The Bible says: “We do not want you to become lazy but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” Hebrews 6:12
My favourite verse though on patience comes from 2 Peter 3:9 which says: “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.”
God’s calendar for our lives is the best. He knows what we need, where we need it and when is the best time for us to have it. Unfortunately, most of us find God’s calendar too slow for our “now generation” mindset.
Be it promotion or employment, marriage or healing, God’s calendar is the best. Patience is a critical ingredient for our faith. Without patience, we find ourselves questioning the core values of faith and God’s sovereignty. God is looking for people in our generation who can rise above the impatience of this modern world and diligently wait.
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