Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.” Numbers 21.4-6.
We often see sin as an event and don’t really look at sin as a process. While there are many sins, there are actually certain traits we must watch out for which may lead to many sins. We would do better as Christians in our fight against sin if we would conquer these traits. The traits are HASTE and IMPATIENCE. There are a number of sins that can result from being in haste or being impatient. People who make haste make waste. Instead of always dealing with the end result of impatience we could learn to develop patience and avoid many sins and their costs altogether.
Impatience is the hallmark of our culture and society today. The whole idea of “shortcuts” is a mainstay of our lives and culture. We find “quick” ways to do everything from instant soup, instant credit, instant win, instant cash, etc. As a culture we talk about “quality” and then invent ways to make everything happen quickly to avoid the time it takes for quality!
Patience Is a Virtue and fruit of the Spirit
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness. Galatians 5.22.
The society is plagued with the frenzied race of super achievement. Unfortunately, their sense of achievement is mostly material. Many today have thrown caution into the wind and busy chasing things just to acquire wealth. Some have pursued the material and lost what is more important. Some are frustrated because their efforts have not paid off yet. In life, some little wins here and there constitute great success. While you’ll certainly have some quick wins and successes if you stick with it, that’s not the norm. Today young people are in a hurry to achieve at twenty what their parents achieved at fifty. This has led to decline in virtues and dignity, and replaced with many social vices and desperation.
Israel had seen God’s miracles moves in various ways but when they encountered a temporary setback they became impatient with Moses and God. Patience is a useful virtue for the ever grateful. Though patience doesn’t mean just sitting around and waiting for success and happiness to find you. High achievers take massive amounts of risk to achieve the successes they desire. But the joy really is in the journey, not just in the destination. Patience is a necessary part of crafting a life you love. When you mix patience with calculated and dogged action, you set yourself up for great amounts of happiness and success. Some are seen as high achievers but the joy that comes with such success is missing in their lives. Simply because out of impatience they have compromised and forfeited many things including their source of joy. They have allowed temporary things to damage things of eternal value.
A hasty person is an impatient person. An impatient person is an ungrateful person. An impatient person is a desperate person. An impatient person is a man or a woman with a short memory. An impatient man is a blindsided man. An impatient person is a joyless person. Beware of haste and impatience. .