I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry.
-Psalm 40:1 NLT
I didn’t enjoy the experience, but then again, the forming of patience takes place in challenging ways.
Sundays after church usually find us at a local restaurant for lunch. Finding one where the wait is short and where they have enough post-COVID staff taxes us each week. So, on one Sunday, we tried one we’d had good luck with on a few occasions.
By the time my wife and I had made the thirty-minute drive to town from our church, we still had to wait for a table. Not a good sign. When it took the waiter five minutes to take our drink order—and when we saw him waiting on five or six other tables—we began to worry. But he was good . . . when he finally arrived.
Next, came the wait time for our food. Thirty minutes passed before it arrived—and the restaurant wasn’t crowded. My wife likes her steak well done. It wasn’t. I like mine medium well. It wasn’t even that. Blood ran in our plate. We immediately sent our shared steak back. “It won’t take but a minute to fix it,” the person from the kitchen said.
Ten minutes later, our re-cooked steak arrived. Still more red than brown. This time, the front manager brought it to us. “It won’t take but a minute to fix it,” she assured us after we told her just to forget it and remove it from our bill.
The one minute turned into another ten. By this time, we had eaten all our sides and an appetizer and weren’t hungry anymore. When the correctly cooked steak finally arrived, our plates were empty, and so were our friend’s, who ate with us. We opted for a takeout box.
My wife and I both did a better job of handling the situation than we would have some years ago. We’re used to the post-COVID situation where every establishment is short-staffed. We also knew it wasn’t the waiter’s fault. So, we politely kept our mouths shut, encouraged the waiter, and tipped him well.
Patience doesn’t come naturally for any of us—and our God-created personalities have much to do with how patient we are. How we’ve observed our family of origin react to situations also influences us—although it doesn’t excuse us when we react poorly.
Whatever the psalmist’s situation was, he proclaimed that he waited patiently for the Lord, and the Lord heard his cry. What he doesn’t share is how long it took God to respond. We know God hears immediately. We also know he is aware of our circumstances. Why he sometimes waits for what seems like an eternity to fix things or show us how to fix them is often unexplainable.
Saying a little prayer in those patience-testing situations, asking God to help us reflect him well, and searching for wisdom so we’ll know how to react or act are all excellent paths. We won’t master the art easily or quickly, but when we do, our stress levels will slump, and we’ll give a better testimony before others.
My wife chose to laugh about the situation—and with a neighboring patron who experienced the same kind of service. Laughter is also good medicine.
What steps can you take to form patience in those trying circumstances?
