AM: God is slowly opening doors for the work He wants me to do, but I can get impatient.

Betty: Mary and Jesus had the ability to wait on the Father. “Be it done unto me according to your word.” Let’s pray for that grace. “Lord, help me to be less demanding and impatient when it comes to Your works, whether it be in me or the mission and activity you want me to do for you.” To be holy is to accept God’s will for us in the moment. I think in some way Jesus let himself be tested in that area, because there’s a part in Scripture where it talks about Him burning with love. He was burning with Love to accomplish the work the Father sent Him to do. In His humanity, He had to learn to wait on the Father.

Something that helped me when I was in a similar spot was to really ponder God’s will as always carried out with the perfection of God. I was impatient for God to use me. Yet, I would readily know that I was out of His plan. Because His will is always perfect. And if He wasn’t accomplishing what I wanted in a given area of time, I needed to submit my prideful stubbornness to His wisdom. There’s a growth that takes place within us as we do that. 

Remember how the apostles were anxious to get going in the Kingdom? They said, “John’s disciples are baptizing,” and they went on about what they were able to do. They were in a similar place to you. They were getting impatient to do things. It’s your ability to wait upon the Lord that honors Him. Because it’s a recognition that He has the perfect plan and that His time is always perfect. It’s a form of Adoration. You simply need to learn to wait upon Him.^“ But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run, and not be weary. And they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

”Teach me Lord to wait.” If God doesn’t move, I say, “Lord, it’s not your time yet.” There’s a part of Scripture that says, “They honor the Lord who sit and wait.” There is that death to self that God allows to occur when His timing is not the timing that we would choose. We are chomping at the bit. We forget who is in charge. We act as though we are in charge, and He frowns on that kind of impatience. The whole idea is to be responsive. Consider who Mary was and the mission God gave to her. She was in the background. She never did anything outstanding in the world’s eyes, except the greatest thing the world ever had happen to it. But the world did not know that she was different than any other.Take her example of simply waiting on God and offer that up to the Lord. Sit before the Lord, and ask Him to give you an obedient heart, and let go of the impatient part of you. “Not my will, but Thine be done.” Enter into the depths of that as you say it. Don’t let it come out of a rote place. Feel your resistance and your impatience. Then, give it to Him as an offering of penance.

If someone as great as Mary spent the majority of her life doing her ordinary duties, we could be called to that as well. Knowing who she is helps us realize that what is important isn’t getting out there and doing things to get attention, but simply doing what God has in the moment. Our ego would like to be out there doing outstanding things. Nothing is recorded of Mary doing a miracle, except the greatest miracle of bringing Jesus into the world. Her ego was totally deprived of attention. If people don’t know you have a mission, that’s okay. If God wants them to know that, in time, He will attract them to you.

Are you growing impatient waiting for you mission and purpose in this life? Can you pray, “Lord, help me to be less demanding and impatient when it comes to Your works, whether it be in me or the mission and activity you want me to do for you.”