Patience vs Control

A number of years I was going through the book of James in Sunday School class.  At one point I came to James 5:7-12 where it talks about patience.  It was then that an insight came to me.  An insight into the relationship between patience and self-control.  I was even inspired to draw a chart to illustrate it.

Control

Patience

The chart illustrates the following principle: The amount of patience that we need in a situation is inversely proportional to the amount of control that we have.  Allow me to explain.

As you can see to the left, when control is high patience is low.  This illustrates the fact that the more control that we have in a situation, the less patience we need.  This is the reason why rich and powerful people are often very impatient.  With the snap of their fingers, or a single phone call, they can make things happen.  They get things done.  Fast.  Their way.  As a result they usually don’t have much patience.  They don't need to.  They are usually in control.

Now follow the chart to the right.  The less control that we have, the more patience we need. Pretty simple.  By the time we get all the way over to the far right we find that we have little, if any, control.  Which means that we need a lot of patience.  So, poor people and those with little or no power in a situation, often have to be patient.  They can’t immediately change a situation to their liking.  They have to live with it.  Sometimes for quite a while.  This requires patience.

So, the next time you come upon a situation in your life that you’d like to change, think about this chart.  If you have a high degree of control in the situation, chances are that you won’t need much patience.  But if have little control, remember that you are going to need a lot of patience.  Food for thought.  I hope that it helps.

“Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him.”  Psalm 37:7

Lord, I thank you that even though many times I am not in control of a situation, You are.  Help me to be patient until You choose to act.  Then may I respond in gratefulness and worship.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.