(From our church-wide devotion book at Pinedale Christian Church, "You 2.0”)

A few weekends ago, our family went up to the mountains to go to an apple orchard for the day. We were two miles away from the orchard driving up a mountain road when my little Volkswagen got stuck on the side of the road. I immediately started to panic. We were stuck on a mountain gravel road with no cell phone service and our kids. I felt stuck, frustrated, and scared.

Anxiety washed over me, but God stopped the spiraling of my negative thoughts with a verse. “Be still and know I am God.” Be still? I wanted to do something – anything – to get myself out of this mess. But we were at the mercy of whoever was driving up this road.
For what seemed like forever, we waited. Many people rubbernecked, stopped, and tried to help, and even tried to let us use their phone. Finally, God brought a volunteer fireman who had a minivan that could fit all of us, and he took us up to the orchard. We had cell service there, but still, we were stuck, and we were a long way from home. Finally, we relinquished control and called a friend to pick us up.

It wasn’t until we accepted our helplessness that we were able to enjoy the day. As we waited for our friends, we finally took in God’s glory of mountains in fall. We drank cider, listened to bluegrass, and enjoyed what we came to enjoy. From that moment on, we refused to let our circumstances hinder the rest of the day.

How do you respond to adversity in your life? Do you murmur and complain? Do you try to outrun it and hide? Or do you pray and give it to God? I think many of us pray, but we don’t really cast our burden on him. We hold on – trying to fix your own problem ourselves, hoping to speed the process along.

The heart of patience is surrendering to God’s will and timing in any given situation. When we truly realize and accept that God fights all our battles, we can let go of trying to be our own healers.

We are now approaching a time where everything is instant. Communication, shopping, entertainment, news, and information are constantly at our fingertips. Delayed gratification is outmoded in a world that is increasingly mechanized and automated. If we aren’t careful, the expectation of instant satisfaction can very easily bleed into our spiritual lives.
We sometimes treat God as if he were a machine - something to be manipulated and controlled. Facing hardship, we pray for circumstances to change instead of our perspectives. We do not see trials and challenges for opportunities to see God fight for us; to really witness His might and glory. We hold on to the illusion that we facilitate our destinies and really don’t want to let go.

What does it say about us when we chose the creature comforts of this world over seeking God whole- heartedly? I am reminded of the Israelite’s wandering the desert and their frustration of a transitory life “Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” (Exodus 14:12). They couldn’t see what God had in store for them and instead insulted His rescue by wishing to be back in bondage.

Many of us focus our prayer time on asking God to help us avoid bumps in the road. We pray on the move, and we want God to follow our lead and keep up! Fortunately, God doesn’t say “yes” to every prayer, and His time is not ours. His time is perfect!
I have been praying for a sibling’s sobriety for 11 years. Sometimes I’m fervent and thoughtful. Sometimes I feel weary and disappointed. But when I lose hope, I remember that I can only see one part of the picture. Our patience in God’s timing shows reverence and trust.

So, ask yourself in your quiet time with God: Do you treat Him more like an iGod, a prayer app which you control, or do you really trust Him and His timing, patiently awaiting His answer during your ordeal?

Using patience can help us cope with upsetting and stressful situations and can minimize depression and other negative feelings, according to UC Davis Professor Robert Emmons. The same study concludes that those who are patient tend to have more gratitude and connection to mankind. Patient people tend to be better friends and spouses because they exhibit more empathy, forgiveness, and cooperation. Patient people can also have better health. They were less likely to report suffering from acne flareups, ulcers, diarrhea, pneumonia, headaches, and insomnia.