The following are exerpts from a post by Mark Dever on the Together for the Gospel blog.  Impatience is a sin that I would guess many of us (particularly men) are susceptible to and perhaps tend to downplay.  Dever seeks to uncover his impatience for what it truly is which is exactly what all of us need.

I confess that I am sometimes, too often, impatient. 

I further confess that as I have meditated on it, it becomes clear to me that this is not a nice, junior kind of sin (at least not in me).  It is a disguise for the sin of pride, the ugliest of all sins, and the most direct rejection of God’s authority and of a humble joy in His provision for me in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Let me give you a little of my thinking.

I’m sitting in a meeting.  I’m sitting there for hours.  The meeting would be no different if I were not there.  I might think, or even say to someone, something negative about the meeting, or about “our” needing to be there. 

Now, let me question my impatient self at this point.  Self, just how important does a meeting need to be before you should spend your time on it.  Just how crucial does my role have to be, and how frequently, in order for me to not experience the temptation to impatience. 

I know that I have to exercise wisdom and be a good steward of time.  But look at how much more you’re (I’m) getting at these meetings than I deserve.  I deserve Hell!  Yet here at this meeting, I’m being cared for.  It’s not raining on me.  My chair is comfortable.  There’s stuff to drink.  And yet, I think that somehow it should take less of my time.  As if I deserve more interesting fare for spending MY time; as if I DESERVE anything for the expenditure of my time!  My response to such situations should be patience.  My tendency is to be patient in situations I like.  And that’s no patience!  Patience is endurance through things that challenge us, and it is rooted in humility, as surely as my impatience is rooted in pride.

I leave you to examine your own impatience.  I know that this is one way pride has tried to assume an “acceptable” disguise in my own life, and I’m trying to unmask it.  Pray for me.

May I add to this by suggesting you read Colossians 3:12-14 and may the Spirit unmask our sin and transform our lives.

This entry was posted by Tim Pickard on Sunday, October 22nd, 2006 at 2:32 pm and is filed under Main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.