Do you know someone who has seemed calm and not easily agitated from birth?
Restraint is not patience if…
I have a calm loved one and have learned that impatience may be the fuel behind his demeanor. Instead of dealing with an issue, he avoids it expecting the problem to go away faster if he disengages. This is not patience.
A man I met has been praised often for his quietness and restraint. Speaking up means disappointing the praisers and perhaps suffering their rejection. This is not patience.
A woman decides she wants to stop yelling at her family. She is quieter, yet when stressed goes to her room to drink. This is not patience.
Avoidance and escapism are not virtues. Restraint is not the same as patience when it is intended as manipulative or selfish.
What is the hardest thing you have ever done?
Patience is learned. Patience is a virtue – that is, a positive character trait. We may be born with certain traits, but we are not born with character. It is forged out of difficulties and our response to temptations.
A teacher at my church asked the class recently, “What is the hardest thing you have ever done?”
Truth is, one of the hardest things I have ever done is to stay alive when my brain screamed no. It took patience to wait and see, to listen to the professionals, and to work the process. All the while, it was not clear this was going to work and that life would change.
If you are struggling with patience in your scrambled world, I must tell you something honestly. I did not manage it on my own.
Even when I couldn’t pray anything else, God heard my “help” whispered from under the covers. He gave me the strength to get up and go to therapy sessions.
One of the virtues he teaches believers in his Son, Jesus, is patience. Yet in his kindness, he offers his own when we feel out of options.
Today’s Helpful Word
James 5:6-8 (NIV)
Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.
Always the Fight Ministries (ATFM) has been displaying compassion for those fighting mental illness, addiction, or abuse since 2012. Nancy is the founder and voice of ATFM and openly shares her emotional resurrection from despair.
*** COMMENTS ALWAYS WELCOME
NOTE: I am not a doctor or a mental health professional, and speak only from personal experiences and observations. In no way is this website intended to substitute for professional mental or behavioral health care.
If you are feeling suicidal, or concerned about someone who is, in the U.S. call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or for a list of international suicide hotlines, go here.
If you are suicidal with a plan, immediately call 911 in the U.S. or go to your nearest emergency room. In the EU call 112. (For other international emergency numbers, go here ). Hope and help are yours!
Always the Fight 
So insightful and profound.
Thank you again for sharing.
LikeLiked by 1 person