My Way or the Highway? Or Perhaps His Way?

Our Lord is consistent. All throughout the Scriptures, He exhorts us and encourages us to trust Him, obey Him, and to be patient. There’s a simple logic: God is love. Love is patient. We are created in the image and likeness of God. And so, we can be patient. If only it were that simple. But what if, by the grace of God, it is that simple? What if Our Lord just wants our belief and reliance on Him.

Many people think patience is a difficult thing. It is at least that. But patience is also a fruit of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit that is poured into the soul of everyone who is baptized into Jesus Christ. The Lord believes that patience is possible for you and for me. He sees everything and does not buy into the little permissions we give ourselves, our settlings for less than our best and sometimes even for sinful habits.

Impatience is an outgrowth of every one of the seven deadly sins, but most especially of pride and acedia. Pride feeds the lie that “What happens to me is most important. I am at the center, I know what I need more than anyone, and what I hope for. It should be on the timetable I have laid out. Anything less than what I deem best will disappoint me.” Acedia, a cousin of the sin of sloth, is the sin of avoiding the virtuous path because it takes longer, is more difficult, and requires more spiritual (and sometimes physical) effort, our sweat equity. Where acedia shows itself frequently is after we have kind of given up trying. There is a major settling that indicates a lack of love for self, other people, and God. We give up because we believe it won’t make a difference or we are not really worth the effort. Nor are others. Nor is God.

Pride and acedia are linked up in mindsets like “I shouldn’t have to do that; so I won’t do that.” Or “It’s too hard to change, so I will just not put in the effort.” At root, this is a form of idolatry of self. Scripture tells us “the worship of idols not to be named is the beginning, the cause, and the end of all evil” (Wisdom 14:27). Worship means “giving worth to.” So every time we give more worth to our own timeframes, our own priorities, our own way of seeing things and hearing things and neglect to turn to or consult the Lord, we are committing a kind of idolatry, even if we do not realize it or without knowing it. Even if we are not willfully deciding to sin, the Lord sees all and understands all that is – every thought, every care – and He wants to cleanse us so that we can worship Him in spirit and in truth – the kind of worship the Father is seeking (John 4:24).

My friends, only the Lord has the power to overcome the sin of pride and acedia. Most definitely, we need to overcome both impatience and our sellout attitude about it. Human beings make excuses all the time, and it’s often a refusal to do the hard thing. We know the saying “old habits die hard.” There is a reason breaking the habit of impatience is difficult. We humans were designed to rely on the Lord for everything – not just one thing here and there. We are made in the image and likeness of God, created in Jesus Christ. It is He, the incarnation of God’s Eternal Word, who is the template – and the same Jesus Christ says, “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” Nunca. Nadia.  So. We must ask ourselves: Are we trying to change without full reliance on the Lord? And if that is the case, would we now turn our efforts over to Him, picture ourselves as placing our impatience and self-reliance to overcome it, in His hands? The Lord will take what we give Him, and transform it with His loving grace – in His Way, in His time, in the manner He chooses.

Let us pray for the virtue of humility on a daily basis, so we welcome the Lord’s conquering of all pride and acedia that may be hiding in our hearts, with impatience as the offshoot. Let us invoke the Holy Spirit to pour God’s perfect love into our hearts and minds, and ask Our Lord to give us a sharing in His own patience. Let us trust that He wants to do this, and will do this, if we ask – trust – obey – and patiently await the manifestation of His answer of “Yes! I am your God and will do this for you.”

And while we are waiting, it helps to realize that this patience will actually serve to cultivate rich soil in our hearts, allowing our God to break up the hard ground. One way we can do that is to choose to spend a little time each day to meditate on Scripture. This is pleasing to God, for as Our Lord Jesus spoke: “One does not live on bread alone, but from every word that comes forth from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Remember that the Old Testament and New Testament are so much more than a collection of books that men wrote down – they are the Lord’s own words to us, from the Holy Spirit inspiring each author to communicate what the Triune God wants. It is the word of the Living God. The book of Hebrews tells us His Word is “living and active” and able to divide bone and marrow, to get into the depths of us. The spoken, heard, and obeyed Word of God can effect real change in anybody’s life – if we but believe.

After this reflection, you will see a selection of Scriptures on “Waiting for the Lord.” Please consider meditating on one each month – call it to mind throughout each day, challenge yourself to memorize a passage. Above all, you can ask Our Dear Lord for the grace to remember how He patiently waits for us – and decide to return the gift to Him.

May the Lord bless you today and give you His peace.

Lamentations 3: 25-26

25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. 26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.

Isaiah 40: 28-31

28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. 30 Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; 31 but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

Psalm 27: 13-14

13 I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Psalm 106: 9-13

9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry; he led them through the deep as through a desert. 10 So he saved them from the hand of the foe, and delivered them from the hand of the enemy. 11 The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left. 12 Then they believed his words; they sang his praise. 13 But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel.

Psalm 40: 1

I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.

Isaiah 30: 15-18

15 For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. But you refused  16 and said, “No! We will flee upon horses”— therefore you shall flee! and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”— therefore your pursuers shall be swift! 17 A thousand shall flee at the threat of one, at the threat of five you shall flee, until you are left like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain, like a signal on a hill. 18 Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.

Psalm 37: 7

Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices.