TIME OF REFLECTION - LOVE IS PATIENT

“Love is patient” (I Corinthians 13: 4).

The Greek word (makrothumein) means patience with people and not patience with circumstances. It is the word used of the man who is wronged and who has the power to avenge himself but will not. It describes the man who is slow to anger and it is used of God himself in his relationship with men. Such patience is not the sign of weakness but the sign of strength; No one treated Abraham Lincoln with more contempt than did Stanton. He called him "a low cunning clown", he nicknamed him "the original gorilla". Lincoln said nothing.

He made Stanton his war minister because he was the best man for the job and he treated him with every courtesy. The years wore on. The night came when the assassin’s bullet murdered Lincoln in the theatre. In the little room to which the President’s body was taken stood that same Stanton and looking down on Lincoln’s silent face, he said through his tears, "There lies the greatest ruler of men the world has ever seen." The patience of love had conquered in the end.

In a world of instants – from instant lawn to instant puddings – we need to remember that patience is never an instant mix. Like learning to play a musical instrument, patience needs great practice. What is more, patience seems to grow most gracefully in those situations where the normal human reaction would be impatience or annoyance.

My Prayer:

I need to learn Your patience, Lord
I need it right away.
Help me recognize its teachers are Frustration and Delay.