You know how it is.- You rush through the airport, dragging your carry-ons and your kids, only to find your flight has been moved to a different gate.
- You have your day planned, with enough time to accomplish all the tasks on your list, and a friend calls and needs to talk.
- Your tire goes flat on the way to work and when you drag out the spare, you discover it’s also flat.
- You find a note in your child’s backpack, reminding you of a parent-teacher conference tomorrow morning.
- The freeway slows to a crawl, and your one-hour commute turns into the entire morning.
- One of your co-workers drops by your office and launches into a story that involves people you don’t know and situations you don’t care about. Twenty minutes goes by and it feels like twenty days.
How do you handle delays and interruptions and distractions?
I’m not a patient person. It’s a weakness, and any of the
above examples could wreck my concentration and my mood. I get stressed and
edgy. Even worse, I may become abrupt or unkind.
The contrast with my Savior is very stark. In the gospels
Jesus was always being interrupted, obstructed, and delayed. Right in the
middle of His sermon, a demon spouts off (Lk. 4:31ff). During a home group
meeting, four men lower their paralyzed friend through a hole in the roof as
Jesus is teaching (Lk. 5:17-26). A former prostitute crashes a banquet where Jesus
is an invited guest, and begins weeping, washing His feet with her tears (Lk.
7:36ff).
In every case Christ is kind, compassionate, and patient. He
calmly and unhurriedly expresses love and grace. He casts out demons, forgives
sinners, comforts the broken, and heals all manner of diseases and pain.
Why was He patient, and why am I, so often, not?
For me, it’s about control. I imagine that my plans are so supremely important. I think that my timing and intended outcomes are the way things ought to be. I want to be
in control of my day, my week, my life. So when change, interruption, or delays
happen, I don’t handle them well.
Jesus, on the other hand, was serene and confident and
patient because He was living in submission to His Father’s plans. As He put
it, For
I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who
sent me (John 6:38). He knew that everything God had decreed
would prevail, that no demon, tyrannical government, corrupt religious system
or desperate sinner, could derail His agenda. Many are the plans in
the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand (Proverbs
19:21).
The key to peace and patience, I think, begins with knowing
that my Lord controls all things, including all interruptions, distractions,
obstructions, and delays. Submitting my puny plans and schedule and sense of
order to Him means I admit I’m not in control anyway, and that if He wants to
change things up, He has every right to do so.
Really my job, first and foremost, is to keep my eyes on Him
and to trust that He’ll guide me the right way in the right time for His glory
and my good.
