Friday, March 26, 2021

Perseverance and Patience

This morning, I had a small problem - tiny, really. I had just gotten a new phone, and, for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how to make the notifications from one of my apps visible, but not audible. The setting to do that seemed not to exist. Either the notification would make an annoying chime, or there would be no notification at all. I'm ashamed to say that I was frustrated by this. It was a minor problem, yet it seemed that there must be a simple solution, and yet, I couldn't find one.

Thankfully, I finally found a way to make the phone do what I wanted, but not until after I had wasted my whole morning on it, frustrated, and with a bad mood. This was not a good way to spend my morning, or rather, it was not a good state to spend my morning in. The task was somewhat worthwhile, and I persevered in accomplishing that task. Yet, I wasn't patient.

The Guide to the Scriptures defines Patience as "Calm endurance; the ability to endure affliction, insult, or injury without complaint or retaliation." I met only half of that definition. I endured, but not calmly. I suffered an "affliction," albeit an incredibly minor one, but I complained about it to everyone in earshot. I persevered (mostly out of stubbornness), but not patiently.

I should work on being more patient. I should work on remaining calm, regardless of circumstances. I should learn to complain less and to retaliate never. I trust that I will face greater afflictions, insults, and injuries than the one I suffered this morning. I hope I will endure those more patiently then how I endured this one.

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