Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly. Proverbs 14:29
I don’t really like the word “patience”. Do you? I immediately associate it with boredom. I like things to happen quickly all the time. But in a season of patience things seemingly stop moving. Like a ship on the sea that’s experiencing a calm. Everything seems to stand still. That’s how I’ve been feeling recently. I want to share a few thoughts that God put in my heart during that time.
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9
The first and most important realization is that life is a marathon, not a sprint. We don’t need to rush everything and come to the next stage as quickly as we can. Second, it’s important to recognize the concept of seasons (if you want to know more about that, read my previous post). Seasons change and we get the opportunity to make the most out of every season.
So, here are a few tips on how to stay strong during a season of patience:
1. Pray and ask God what’s important to him during that season. What does he want you to do and learn in that time? Ask him for wisdom and revelation. Is there any reason for you to be in this season? Can you find opportunities to learn and grow?
2. Practice what you learnt in the previous season. Reflect on the time before you entered into this dead-calm-season. What were the key points God was teaching you then? Which obstacles did you have to overcome? It’s often good to look back for reflection und to gain insight. Maybe God has been teaching you to trust him financially or he enlarged your heart for the poor. Whatever it was, keep practicing it. Maybe this time is for you to strengthen your spiritual muscles.
3. Focus on the now. Which task is in front of you at the moment? This can be simple things like the cleaning and decluttering work you wanted to do for so long. Or finishing a specific project at work or at home. What other tasks need to get done today? This may be the time for you to collect those loose ends.
4. Be grateful for this calm time and take it as an opportunity to grow closer to God. Mostly our lives don’t consist of successes and mountaintops. Normally we experience both; highs and lows. But there are also the times in between like this season of patience. See it as it is: the normal rhythm of life. This season of patience gives us a chance to rest. In this time is big opportunity for you to rest and enjoy the quiet.
Don’t neglect this season! There is so much to learn, to be grateful for, to wrap things up and to grow closer to God. Make the best out of every season and see the opportunities not the limitations. And remember:
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Read more about seasons here.
