Patience is better than power, and controlling one’s temper, than capturing a city. Proverbs 16:32 HCSB
We live in a world that demands things in seconds instead of minutes, hours, or days. I can remember the first computer I owned. It would take several minutes to connect to the internet and then it would require additional time to load a program. Now we expect internet connectivity to happen in seconds and get frustrated when it doesn’t. We seem to want instantaneous results and we are not willing to wait. I have heard people pray, “Lord give me patience, and give it to me now.” In our society, we seem to have very little patience.
This proverb reminds us that being patient and controlling one’s temper is greater than having power or capturing a city. Often our lack of patience with others seems to fuel anger and conflict. Losing one’s temper is usually destructive, while exhibiting patience and trying to understand the other person’s point of view can have a calming effect in the midst of conflict. It may seem to take more power to control one’s temper than it does to capture a city.
Challenge: With whom do you need to be more patient? How can being patient help diffuse a potential conflict? Pray for patience. Do not get ahead of what God wants you to do. Wait on the Lord. Read Isaiah 40:31.