ODJ: The Lost Virtue

August 29, 2016 

READ: Colossians 3:1-17  

Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (v.12).

There’s a big, green button at the paint counter of my local hardware shop. When you press it, an assistant is supposed to serve you within 60 seconds. If they’re late, you get a discount on your paint.

“Thou shall not wait” seems to be the modern world’s new commandment. And so we have fast food, speed dating, rapid weight loss, next-day delivery and 60 second service at the hardware shop.

While instant fulfilment has brought much convenience, it has a downside. Notice how annoyed we get when the bus is late, the queue is long or the meals are slow to our tables? Notice our frustration when the illness lingers or our prayers aren’t quickly answered? When “Thou shall not wait” is the mantra, patience becomes a lost virtue.

God is patient. He’s slow to anger, extends grace to both saint and sinner and waits for humanity to repent (Exodus 34:6; Matthew 5:45; 2 Peter 3:9). When God came physically to earth, He spent 9 months awaiting birth, 30 years acquiring knowledge He previously had and rejected every shortcut He was ever offered (Matthew 4:1-7, 26:53). God’s Spirit also points to patience (Galatians 5:22). And when Paul calls us to live differently than the world, including being patient, he does so after saying we’re “hidden” in this three-in-one God (Colossians 3:1-12). Instead of trying to be patient by our own means, we have inside access to divine patience.

While patience may be a lost virtue, it’s also a revolutionary act. By being patient today with others by God’s strength (v.13), and even with God Himself (who doesn’t promise 60 second service), we can be counter-cultural witnesses in a hyperactive world to His ever-patient ways.

—Sheridan Voysey

365-day plan: Matthew 21:1-17