Article August 23, 1958 Issue

THE VALUE OF PATIENCE

ELIZABETH BICE LUERSSEN

In the stepped-up tempo of our times, with speed records being set by athletes, jet pilots, and guided missiles, one may overlook the importance and power of patience. A dictionary reveals two of the meanings of the word "patience" to be "calm endurance or self-possession," and "quiet waiting for what is expected or persistence in what has been begun."

Many of the great Bible characters expressed the quality of patience during testing times in their lives. There was, for example, Nehemiah's persistence in the task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. There was Ruth's quiet waiting and expectancy of good during the days of humble gleaning in the grain fields. And Christ Jesus, of course, is Christianity's model of patience, for his expression of this quality extended even to his persecutors.

By way of contrast, we find in the Scriptures instances of the way in which impatience on the part of certain peoples led to their failure and downfall. For example, when the children of Israel, wandering in the wilderness, murmured against the Lord, they were subsequently attacked by a plague of fiery serpents.

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