ODJ: proven by patience


September 28, 2013 

READ: 2 Corinthians 6:1-10 

We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us and by our sincere love (v.6).


While dining with friends at a restaurant in Uganda, my 9 year old son and I requested refills of our iced tea. Because friends own the restaurant and it’s a relaxed environment, when I saw our waiter was busy serving others, I picked up our glasses and started towards the kitchen. That’s when my son, Wasswa, quietly said to me, “Mummy, it’s OK if it takes them a little while to bring us our tea. Please be patient.”


Wasswa was sitting at the ‘kids’ table and I was at the ‘adults’ table. So upon returning to my seat, I told my friends what Wasswa had said. We marvelled at my son’s example and discussed how much we could learn from him.


The apostle Paul wrote that “we prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us and by our sincere love” (2 Corinthians 6:6). Time and time again I’m exposed to believers, including my son, who display more patience than I do. Their example speaks volumes. But I still tend to wonder, “How long should we wait for something before we take action?”


In the case of our tea, after waiting an additional 20 minutes for the server to return to our table, my son lightly tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Mummy, I think it’s okay to go [to the kitchen] now.” Wasswa’s effort to be discreet and not draw attention to the slow service prompted me to enter the kitchen with a kind and understanding attitude instead of an angry and entitled one.


Webster’s Dictionary states that patience is “the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble or suffering without getting angry or upset.” Today, let’s call on the Holy Spirit to help us exercise patience more readily. —Roxanne Robbins