God knows that Joshua was a patient man. For 38 years he waited for a promise to be fulfilled that, if fairness to an individual were more important than justice to a people, he deserved to receive after his first excursion into Canaan. Yet he waited, patiently serving Moses, patiently caring for the people whose faithlessness had blockaded his blessing, patiently waiting for God's good time.
And when that time came, he faithfully and courageously sought God's will. Until Joshua 7. Without waiting for word from God, Joshua sent spies up to Ai, and then began the attack based on their witness. Disaster follows. Achan is responsible for his own death, and the deaths of his family, but it may be that as a leader Joshua shares in the responsibility of the deaths of the 36 lost in the first attack on Ai. Perhaps if the Lord had been approached in advance, the sin of Achan could have been discovered without such a great cost [It's so easy to question the decisions of a leader after the fact, isn't it?]
"Courage is the capacity to wait until you've learned as much as you can and then take action. You're never sure of the results until you do it. You're still not going to know everything. You have to take gambles and learn more. Queen Elizabeth I wanted to put off most decisions as long as she could. She didn't make a decision until she had to." - Warren Bennis
Patience is an important part of courageous leadership. Sometimes a person's passion for a cause drives them to so relentlessly pursue their objectives that they fail to correctly assess and patiently cope with obstacles blocking that pursuit. Sometimes we just flat out want God to do things on our timetable and not his. As antithetical as passion and patience seem to be on the surface, one without the other either goes nowhere at all or ends in a dramatic crash. "Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than a man who takes a city" (Prov 16.32).
But just as passion cannot stand long without patience, patience is dependent on one more virtue. Trust, for example.
You cannot have patience without trust. I can wait upon the Lord because I can trust him to keep his promises. I may not understand his timing, I may not understand the path, and I certainly may not understand the obstacles, but still I can be patient because of trust. When I become impatient with God, isn't that a sign that I have stopped trusting in him and have elevated my wisdom and desires above his faithfulness?
We can't be patient with people without trust either. I can be patient with Ann to put dinner on the table, because I trust her to finish a wonderful meal at the right time. I can be patient listening to one of Daniel's lessons because I trust that, just as there is something in it for the fourth grader, there is something in it for me as well. I can be patient with the kids, because I can trust that God is active in their lives as well. And if I can't yet trust a person, I can trust that God will help me deal with them.
So when we find ourselves being impatient, it may be important to understand what is irritating us, but there is something more important. The key is to understand who it is that we are not trusting. When we discover that, we are on the path to peace.
Grace, and peace,
Ron
And when that time came, he faithfully and courageously sought God's will. Until Joshua 7. Without waiting for word from God, Joshua sent spies up to Ai, and then began the attack based on their witness. Disaster follows. Achan is responsible for his own death, and the deaths of his family, but it may be that as a leader Joshua shares in the responsibility of the deaths of the 36 lost in the first attack on Ai. Perhaps if the Lord had been approached in advance, the sin of Achan could have been discovered without such a great cost [It's so easy to question the decisions of a leader after the fact, isn't it?]
"Courage is the capacity to wait until you've learned as much as you can and then take action. You're never sure of the results until you do it. You're still not going to know everything. You have to take gambles and learn more. Queen Elizabeth I wanted to put off most decisions as long as she could. She didn't make a decision until she had to." - Warren Bennis
Patience is an important part of courageous leadership. Sometimes a person's passion for a cause drives them to so relentlessly pursue their objectives that they fail to correctly assess and patiently cope with obstacles blocking that pursuit. Sometimes we just flat out want God to do things on our timetable and not his. As antithetical as passion and patience seem to be on the surface, one without the other either goes nowhere at all or ends in a dramatic crash. "Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than a man who takes a city" (Prov 16.32).
But just as passion cannot stand long without patience, patience is dependent on one more virtue. Trust, for example.
You cannot have patience without trust. I can wait upon the Lord because I can trust him to keep his promises. I may not understand his timing, I may not understand the path, and I certainly may not understand the obstacles, but still I can be patient because of trust. When I become impatient with God, isn't that a sign that I have stopped trusting in him and have elevated my wisdom and desires above his faithfulness?
We can't be patient with people without trust either. I can be patient with Ann to put dinner on the table, because I trust her to finish a wonderful meal at the right time. I can be patient listening to one of Daniel's lessons because I trust that, just as there is something in it for the fourth grader, there is something in it for me as well. I can be patient with the kids, because I can trust that God is active in their lives as well. And if I can't yet trust a person, I can trust that God will help me deal with them.
So when we find ourselves being impatient, it may be important to understand what is irritating us, but there is something more important. The key is to understand who it is that we are not trusting. When we discover that, we are on the path to peace.
Grace, and peace,
Ron
