"No, not now. You need to wait!"

David Reyes

Those words make me cringe every time. Being told "no" or "not now" is one of the most difficult things for me to hear. I'm trying to master this thing called patience. But I still need a lot of work. Allow me to attempt to justify my lack of patience. 

Society lied to me

Society told me that success can be attained quickly. Justin Bieber, Mark Zuckerberg, Uber, Instagram, random lottery winners, and that kid who made it big on a stock trading app all apparently were overnight successes. Well, that's not true, but society would make you believe it the way they glorify success and minimize trials and errors. The truth is that the market made me aware of all those people/entities way after years of hard work and dedication. Except for those lottery winners!

Digital media is to blame.

Reports are suggesting that the average human attention span is getting shorter and shorter.  Henry Latham reports in a recent study conducted about social media usage:

• An average 16–64-year-old American spends over 2 hours per day on social media

• An average American adult touches, swipes, or taps their phone 2,617 times a day

• Some reports suggest our average attention span may be as low as 8 seconds!

While the research isn't concrete, you don't need to be an expert to know just how influential digital media has become. And without a doubt, instant, on-demand digital media has made us impatient. So it's the internet's fault!

Let's get real!

I'm not really trying to justify my lack of impatience. It actually shows a lack of trust in God; that's a bad thing. So, I don't want to do a bad thing, what can I do to get better? Well, the first step is to find truth in scripture:

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." Isaiah 40:31

When you trust in God, he will give you the strength to wait. I know this is true because the times I have trusted in God, I somehow found the courage and perseverance to remain patient. I don't always, but when I do, God comes through! 

Here's a song that will encourage you to wait on the Lord

I'm trying y'all! And I hope this reminder helps you grow in your faith. I hope you learn to trust in God, and in doing so, you beat the odds and find strength as you wait!