I know for a fact that if it were not for the gift of patience I would not be here today. My mother would have given up on me a long time ago. I was a terrible child and it seemed the only thing my mom could do was pray for patience. But the more patience my mother prayed for, the worse I got. I was a terrifying child. You never knew what I was up to, or what wheels were turning in my head. Eventually I turned 6 and grew out of my "holy terror" stage, and my mom had much more patience.
And thus we see from my mother's experiences that the Lord tries our patience until we think we can't take it anymore.
Mosiah 23:21 says,
" Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith."
Faith and patience go hand in hand. Because of our faith in Him we have patience. Patience is a capacity, and the Lord will expand our capacities if we put all of our faith in Him and trust in His timing. The more my mother prayed for patience the more Heavenly Father expanded my capacity to raise more ruckus, as well as her capacity to handle whatever I came up with.
Patience manifests itself in a multitude of ways. You have to be patient with children, patient for the microwave to cook your food, patient in your afflictions, patient in waiting for blessings, patient in waiting for the second coming, and patient for a multitude of other things.
President Thomas S. Monson said,
"Life is full of difficulties, some minor and others of a more serious nature. There seems to be an unending supply of challenges for one and all. Our problem is that we often expect instantaneous solutions to such challenges, fore getting that frequently the heavenly virtue of patience is required."Too many people in this world already give up when the going gets rough. But being patient always has its reward. Without patience the world would be a very angry place. I can't even imagine a world without the gift of patience! No one would be skilled at anything, or have any type of knowledge. We would virtually go no where. We would be in a lot of trouble.
Everything worthwhile in life takes time, and without patience we would never get there.
What a blessing patience is. What a loving and trusting Heavenly Father. What a great gift.
In hind sight - I prayed and prayed for patience with Laura; she thought outside the box and could find trouble where there was none. What better way to teach me patience than to give me all sorts of different ways to practice being patient! It was not the answer to my prayers I thought I would receive, but it was the answer I needed. And I did gain patience.
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