“He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.” (Proverbs 16:32) (NKJV)
One of my closest friends, Marian, lost her dad in January this year aged 101! He was a lovely, gentle man who lost his wife to cancer when their 4 girls were teenagers. He was always known for his patience which was a wonderful trait when trying to bring up 4 teenage girls by himself.
At his funeral Marian related this story:
Dad loved playing golf, and one day when out golfing with some friends, he lost his golf ball. He reached into his golf bag and drew out a new ball. He took it out of the box, unwrapped the protective tissue paper, set up the ball and proceeded to make lovely clean shot down the fairway. Before the ball even hit the ground, a huge Currawong leisurely swooped down, grabbed the ball in its beak, and flew into the neighbouring bushes. Dad stood there pondering for 20 seconds or so, and without uttering a word, reached into his bag, drew out another boxed ball, opened it, unwrapped it, set it up, and proceeded on with his game!
This is a lovely example of patience – patience not just in big things of life (like bringing up 4 teenage girls alone), but also the small day-to-day things that irritate or inconvenience us. How do you or I react when life is hard or frustrating…. with anger, or with grace and patience?
“Fools vent their anger, but the wise quietly hold it back.” (Proverbs 29:11) (NLT)
“Whoever is patient has great understanding,
but one who is quick-tempered displays foolishness.” (Proverbs 14:29) (NIVUK).
Karen Barclay
