Patiently becoming YOU

We’re more patient then we think and here’s why I say so. Have you ever considered that it has taken you all these years just to get to where you are today? I’ve waited 33 years to be an aspiring entrepreneur, writer, basketball coach, teacher, husband of decent repute, etc. You are what you’ve waited patiently to become whether you know it or not.

It’s tough to argue the contrary, that we haven’t waited patiently, because 10 years ago you were ignorant of today’s outcome and probably would not have scripted it as it has transpired. You weren’t consciously waiting on what has happened up to this point but something in you was. Do you even remember who or where you were just ten years ago? I was just off of a life-changing trip to the Philippines where I tried out for a team in the Philippine Basketball Association (professional basketball in the South Pacific). I used all of my vacation time that year for this one trip in efforts of playing basketball for a living. But I didn’t know in July of 1999 that I would apply to Fuller Theological Seminary one month later, get accepted and train in biblical studies for the next 2 1/2 years. I didn’t know, in 1999, that I would finish a Master’s Degree in 2002, part ways with two of the friends who attended the graduation that year along with a fiancee or that I could combine the passion for basketball with exegeting scripture.

I always assumed that to wait patiently meant you knew what you were waiting for but that’s seldom the case. The only thing I knew on the plane ride home from the Philippines was that I felt basketball was a done deal, which as it turns out, was far from the truth. Grad school led to an introduction to full-time church service characterized by my own management of intrapersonal struggles that should have eliminated me from my post. Full-time ministry continued but changed forms as I became I teacher at the college and high school levels. But since becoming a teacher, the thing I loved most in 1999 has been given back to me. Language, service, basketball and most importantly, the daily inspiration of my faith in Jesus Christ have combined. For me, that’s what I was waiting so long for but couldn’t put it into words. Just bein’ real…So it seems that the virtue of patience is not exhibited in anticipation for an event to occur as much as it is demonstrated because you have hope that your multiple intelligences, gifts and passions will be deployed. You’re not patiently waiting for your dream to be realized anymore than kids wait patiently the night before their birthdays. No one is patient about that. But as the years pass and have passed you’re probably holding on to the hope that who you really are can one day be appreciated and put to use in this world. The opportunity to be “you” in a capacity that truly fulfills is already at hand. Now add proactivity to patience and God will use you what enlivens you to effect change in your world.