Itching to get going

We live in an impatient world - or at least you do if you live in a big city, and most of us do. We know that the time is short, that we are late, and that our opportunities will pass away if we don't seize the moment. We can't sit still for a second - with all the caffeine bubbling through our systems it would be impossible in any case.

I am always calculating to myself 'what would be quicker? How can I save time?' I have a deep deep dread of boredom. Waiting would have to be my least favourite activity.

Businesses know this, and they have started to help us to avoid queueing, or at least to feel like we aren't really queueing when we are. They patch us through to an office in Bangalore, or try to gauge our needs before we start queueing, or encourage us to work it all out for ourselves. We don't have the patience to wait for them.

But one of the most revolutionary and amazing qualities of God, as the Bible portrays him, is his patience. In Israel they had a saying among the sayings they used to learn that told of God's character. You can find it in Exodus 34:6-7 - where God himself says it -but it comes up again and again in the Old Testament:

The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintain love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.'

What is he like? He is slow to get anger. Now, that doesn't mean he is just too laid back to get mad, or that he doesn't have any reason to BE angry, or that he doesn't get angry, or that he lacks justice. It's just that he is PATIENT.