I heard a story the other night about a truck driver who dropped in at an all-night restaurant in Broken Bow, Nebraska. The waitress had just served him when three swaggering, leather-jacketed motorcyclists -- of the Hell's Angels type --entered and rushed up to him, apparently spoiling for a fight. One grabbed the hamburger off his plate; another took a handful of his French fries; and the third picked up his coffee and began to drink it. The trucker did not respond as one might expect. Instead, he calmly rose, picked up his check, walked to the front of the room, put the check and his money on the cash register, and went out the door. The waitress followed him to put the money in the till and stood watching out the door as the big truck drove away into the night. When she returned, one of the cyclists said to her, "Well, he's not much of a man, is he?" She replied, "I can't answer as to that, but he's not much of a truck driver. He just ran over three motorcycles out in the parking lot."
This is a negative example of patience.  We should not be patient in order to get revenge.  Revenge is a big problem in the islands, as well as the rest of the world.  Being patience to look for an opportunity for revenge is not the kind of patience we need or the kind God requires.

Sensitive Patience

A train was filled with tired people. Most of them had spent the day traveling through the hot dusty plains and at last evening had come and they all tried to settle down to a sound sleep. However, at one end of the car a man was holding a tiny baby and as night came on the baby became restless and cried more and more. Unable to take it any longer, a big brawny man spoke for the rest of the group. "Why don't you take that baby to its mother?" There was a moment's pause and then came the reply. "I'm sorry. I'm doin' my best. The baby's mother is in her casket in the baggage car ahead." Again there was an awful silence for a moment. Then the big man who asked the cruel question was out of his seat and moved toward the man with the motherless child. He apologized for his impatience and unkind remark. He took the tiny baby in his own arms and told the tired father to get some sleep. Then in loving patience he cared for the little child all through the night.

Patience means understanding that circumstances may be quite different than we think they might be.  The Lord has a way of testing us often to see if we have patience.  If we don't then let's hope that we will repent of the sin of impatience like the man in this story.

Patience

A missionary told how encouraging and helpful Isaiah 65:2 is which says, "I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts." had been to her. . ... "When she felt she had little patience left with some child, she thought of her Lord's patience. He was willing to 'spread out (HIS) hands all the day.' She thought how God's love and patience are unfathomable. He does not give up, even though reaching a rebellious people! "Aline Trumbull writes, 'One morning I wanted to feed the birds. It was gray and cold, and the ground was covered with snow. I stepped out on the porch and flung them handful of crumbs, and called to them. No, there they sat, cold, hungry, and afraid. They did not trust me. As I sat and watched and waited, it seemed to me I could get God's viewpoint more clearly than ever before. He offers, plans, watches, waits, hopes, longs for all things for our good. But He has to watch and wait as I did for my timid friends."

We need to have patience like God has for us.  He is the perfect picture of patience for us.  We need to think about that when we are impatient with people or circumstances.

Patience, In Waiting For God

I heard of a missionary who did not receive her monthly check. She was seriously ill and because of no money had to live on oatmeal and canned milk. She received her check thirty days later. After mentioning this incident