“Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.” John Quincy Adams
Happy Monday!
I hope you had a lovely and restful weekend. I’m sure many are preparing children to return to school, and I am sending best wishes for smooth transitions from summer into the academic year. It’s a sort of a take a breath in, hold it, and let it out again time of year when anything can happen to change the schedule in the blink of an eye. The good news is that with a bit of patience and perseverance, the chaos magically begins to settle into routine within a few weeks.
Interestingly, patience and perseverance seem difficult in the moment, but in the aftermath, they really do change almost magically as the challenges disappear. We tend to get caught up in the pressure, stress, and anxiety of the moment, which may even lead to panic-like experiences. Then, as we can access some patience and persevere through the process, we find ourselves on the other side of the crisis. We see, in retrospect, how waiting in patient expectation may have been the key to averting all the frazzled nerves.
In our fast-paced, insta-world, patience and perseverance are rare commodities. We don’t have time, nor the inclination, to wait around. We want things done immediately. We want what we want, and we want it now. The problem is that we rarely get the desired outcome because what we genuinely desire often takes concerted effort, attention to detail, and the willingness to stay the course, however long it takes. We just don’t have the nerves for the tasks.
John Quincy Adams shared his thoughts about patience:
Patience isn’t easy for us. In fact, it can be pretty tricky and even next to impossible for many of us. When we can muster up enough perseverance, however, we find the magical effects of which Adams writes to be more than satisfying and even extraordinary. I wonder how many of us have missed the magic in appreciating the impact of patience and perseverance after a difficulty has been remedied.
Scripture has a lot to share about patience and perseverance:
“And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Romans 5:3-5 (NKJV)
“For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” Romans 15:4 (NKJV)
“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.” James 1:4 (MSG)
Patience and perseverance…tolerating delays, accepting difficulties, and having the capacity to suffer without getting upset…traits that prepare us for the magic of vanishing obstacles. How fun would it be to witness these types of events rather than feeling stressed and exhausted at the end of the day? Wouldn’t it be nice to sit with friends and discuss how difficulties disappeared rather than bemoaning our misfortunes?
Let’s test the theory this week. Practice patience and perseverance, and share your miracles with your friends. I’ll bet you’ll have a lot of great vanishing acts to share!
Be Well & Be Blessed!
Lucinda
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