25th November, 2009

LLOYD HARKNESS

Patience is a virtue...or so the old cliché goes. It might not rate among the big three of faith, hope and charity but...it is a virtue.

I wonder if it still carries the same potency, the same status, in a generation hooked on the instant?

FIND YOUR WAY WITH PATIENCE: To exercise patience, says Lloyd Harkness, is to "have what it takes". PICTURE: Patti Gray (www.sxc.hu) "To exercise patience is to demonstrate staying power, to have a backbone, to have what it takes, to hold fast, to hammer away at something, to remain indomitable, to be stable, to show restraint, to bear offenses and not crack or become bitter, to be mild or slow to anger, to be longsuffering."

When we can so readily get annoyed if things don’t have a rapid response, if things can’t be dealt with immediately or if there is not an instant reply, do we see value in things that stretch our patience?

We need to recapture the poetry in the language connected to patience, the poetry that is patience in motion.

Patience is not giving up, not losing heart, persevering bravely, and having a 'long spirit'. I especially like the latter image in this group.

"You have a long spirit". What a great compliment to pay someone. It is different enough to make a person pause and consider the value that is being heralded.

And the list goes on...

To exercise patience is to demonstrate staying power, to have a backbone, to have what it takes, to hold fast, to hammer away at something, to remain indomitable, to be stable, to show restraint, to bear offenses and not crack or become bitter, to be mild or slow to anger, to be longsuffering.

There is an old joke that says patience is for things and situations but when it comes to people what you need is longsuffering.

To have what it takes is worth a second look here. What a great overarching concept to ponder in reference to patience. Maybe it is one we should all muse on in respect to our lives at present.

Despite the poetry of patience, patience is often only seen as deferred satisfaction, a waiting for a better outcome to be achieved. This interpretation lends itself to the image of a stiff upper lip, a stern face, a stolid determination, a stoicism born out of our spirit and our resolve.

Paul, in the book of Colossians, kicks this idea in the opposite direction. For a start he says the source of patience is God not ourselves. God’s strength, God’s power, God’s might is made available to us so that we might endure, so that we will remain patient. Paul then adds because the source is God we can be patient with joy. Joy, not stoicism, is the sustainer. Hope, not despondency or surrender to the situation, can carry a Christian through any situation in life. There is a promise yet to be fully realised which brings energy, buoyancy, which stands in contrast to having only a gritted teeth stolidness to sustain you.

James adds a further dimension to patience. He talks about patience (endurance/steadfastness) bringing Christians to a place of completion or fullness. The long view is we will obtain all that Christ has for us, including reigning with him, through simply remaining steadfastly patient or patiently steadfast.

The requirement of an enduring patience implies trials, tribulations and testing will be a normal part of every Christian’s short journey here. In each situation patience, with joy, has the potency to keep us from surrendering.

Feeling exhausted is different to surrendering. We may be exhausted even to the point of shouting at God "enough is enough!". That dark place, like any other dark place, can be walked through, especially when as Paul said joy is blended with patience.

We might shout "enough is enough" but we should also hold to the fact that all we have had so far with Christ, every perfect gift of love, is only a foretaste of what will come.

Life’s troubles, trials stemming from following Jesus, the chastisement of our heavenly Father, are all but a season in life. Each of these requires patience and understanding. In a passive sense we need to endure and in an active sense we are to persevere.

Continue to do good, run your appointed race, bear the fruit of Christ likeness in all seasons. This is the New Testament exhortation. And patience enables us to achieve good, put one foot in front of the other and produce sweet fruit.

Nothing can take the place of patient endurance. Talent remains unfulfilled without it. Sloth and division reign supreme without it. Provocation wins the day.

To have a long spirit!! Mmmmm.

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