Patience

Today my wife and I went to a home improvement store to have an estimate on updating the kitchen counter for the apartment we are renting.

Little did I know the next three hours would try every ounce of my patience. This same national chain store did excellent work for our home in Pacific Northwest before we put it on the market. So we entered the store with high expectations to make the process smooth, quick and efficient.

The first surprise is that we were expected to pay based on our own tentative measurements. I'm not good at measuring and didn't even have a tape measure. Later, we were told, someone will come out and do the proper measurements and make any adjustments to the final cost. The next shock was the elderly man who assisted us. His words were somewhat slurred so we had to ask to repeat much of what he was saying and he fell asleep while inputting the information in the computer. My eye caught him struggling between various screens not sure which to select or complete. At one point he got up to lead us down an aisle to show us an example of a back splash when I noticed he walked with a limp. What should have taken minutes took thirty minutes when we finally made some excuse and left.

Though I couldn't control the man's behavior or the poor experience in the store, God holds me responsible to treat people with care and respect. Earlier this morning, I prayed to fear God even more so He set up a classroom training for me in the afternoon!

Patience is not cultivated when all is well. Paul writes, "and not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;" (KJV).

When I prayed for understanding, the Lord gave me empathy for this elderly man. Even though my flesh was struggling, compassion overtook me. And God instilled in me patience to listen a little bit closer to a man who was apparently struggling with physical ailments.