Costly impatience

Patience is indeed a virtue, and I get impatient in mastering this particular lesson. The more I want to be a man of patience, the more impatient I become in trying to achieve that goal.

When I look back over the years, I realized that a lot of painful mistakes could have been really avoided had I just been a little bit patient.

Impatience can be costly.

Think about the person who says, “I just bought me a new car,” when what he’s really done is to put together a small sum of money to partially pay the car. He ends up paying the rest of the cost until perhaps his car is worn out or long after he’s exhausted all the benefits and enjoyment of his purchase. That’s a pretty high price to pay for impatience.

Or think about the boy who was sent away to jail for stealing money that he used to watch a movie. The judge asked the boy if he thinks his mother would have given him the money had he asked her for it. The boy believed that she would’ve done so. Puzzled, the judge inquired why he stole the money then. The boy replied, “Well, Sir, my mom doesn’t get home until 6:30, and the movie begins at six.”

The boy destroyed his life for the sake of 30 minutes. Tragic thing impatience really is.

Sometimes, the hardest part of exercising patient is exercising it toward people, like the sick. People who aren’t feeling well can be really cranky at times, testing the patience of the people around them. And though those people may know that it’s really the illness blurting out bitter words or doing deplorable things, and not the sick person, trying to be patient still remains a daunting task.

I’ve seen Impatience wield its cruel hands in the lives of many employees. In their desire to amass wealth the quickest way possible, some employees fall into sneaky schemes and dubious deals that later on would cost them their job or might even send them to jail. I’ve even experienced one of my very own employees – bright and talented and impatient – handing me a resignation letter because of our competitor’s offer of a higher-paying job. She promptly transferred to the competitor but was soon dismissed because all her new employer wanted from her was industry information she has.

Life consists of waiting periods. The child must wait until he is old enough to have his bicycle or skateboard; the young man, until he is old enough to drive a car. The medical student must wait for his diploma, the employee for his promotion, the young couple for savings for a new home.

Patience is perfectly personified by Jesus Christ. Jesus kept His peace even when he was being abused and mocked. But the patience He’s shown mankind is not weakness, but a kind of power, the power of being in control. His resurrection victory proved that loud and clear.

Learn the virtue of patience. You’ll realize how thankful we ought to be for God’s own patience with us.

(Francis Kong shares the stage with Martin Lindstom! Attend Buy-ology Symposium “Truth and Lies on Why We Buy” on Sept. 8, 2011, from 1 to 6 p.m., at the SMX Convention Center. For further inquiries, please call 5272383.)