Lifestyle Columnist, Amanda Alexander
Who remembers the impetuous child Veruca Salt who sang the song ‘I want it Now’ from the film ‘Charlie & The Chocolate Factory’? Her demands for wanting the golden goose led to her destruction and disposal in a rubbish shoot. The microwave once used to heat food, can now cook food i.e. a jacket potato in 10 minutes, and now has become a dependable substitute for the conventional oven which takes nearly two hours to cook a crispy skinned, fluffy textured potato. We can see from the above scenarios that impatience leads to hellish curses, while patience brings heavenly blessings!
I was the queen of impatience, like Veruca Salt I wanted and demanded everything immediately. Needless to say my impatience led to a lot of failures as I did not allow myself to be patient with the process of time for everything to come together organically.
What does the word patience mean? Cambridge Dictionary defines it as “the ability to wait, or to continue doing something despite difficulties, or to suffer without complaining or becoming annoyed:¹ The bible urges us “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing”.² Having patience has many benefits as it allows you to see yourself what needs to change. Furthermore, patience gives an eye view of what the other person or situation is really about, leaving you with the choice whether to engage or not. Another benefit of patience is that you’re given the opportunity to have deeper compassion and understanding not only for yourself but others.
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If you’re having to exercise patience in a relationship it gives you time to see your flaws, where you are going wrong and are thus able to address your issues. You’ll also love the other person and understand what they are going through from their perspective, treat them with kindness rather than becoming annoyed or complaining about them because in your view they’re not meeting your needs, as 1 Corinthians 13:4 says true love is patient³.
Next time you want to be impatient ask yourself what do you really want out of life? Do not destroy your life like Veruca and don’t set your mindset to the timescale of the microwave. If you’re a Christian wait on God with patience, don’t grumble and complain but remain thankful. I’m pleased to say I’m now a lady who now has patience with God and herself and loves life. There’s protection in patience so stay there until the process is over you will not regret it.
Question:
- What difficult situation or person is causing you to to complain or be annoyed?
- Because they were not meeting your demands now you were cruel or kind to them?
- Did you complain about the person to your friends and family, if so how do you now feel?
Until next time, remember you are beautiful and wonderfully made – With love Amanda x
Amanda Alexander is the founder of Elect Lady Ministries & Amanda Alexander Productions All rights reserved ©
Disclaimer: Readers are advised that the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to CaribDirect Multi-Media Ltd.
¹ https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/patience?q=Patience
² https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+1%3A4-8&version=KJV
³ https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2013%3A4-7&version=NIV
