On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a scroll, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. -Isaiah 29:18
Dear members and friends,
The promise of most religious teachings is not about the present or something that yields immediate results, but about something that will happen in the future or requires much cultivation. Thus, it is critical to have a hope in something that may happen in future. Hope is a strange yet very powerful thing. The comfort of having a hope does not necessarily come from the certainty that it will become a reality at a certain point. To a degree, having hope is powerful in itself because it is a much better state of being than hopelessness.
In Psalm 39:7, we read, “And now, O Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you.” The Hebrew word that is translated here as hope is Yachal, which can also be translated as “to wait.” The psychology of being able to wait is noteworthy because at the very least it means that the one who is capable of waiting is patient. For some, patience may not be very appealing, but for others patience is a virtue they wish to cultivate.
The word patience is defined as “the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.” The origin of the word patience is the Latin word patient, meaning suffering. Though some may wonder how it’s beneficial to accept suffering, others acknowledge the truth that often there is nothing we can do about delay, trouble, or suffering except to accept and endure it. Here, hope is not about altering reality, but about having the ability to persevere through trouble or suffering with a positive attitude.
To be willing to wait for God means to accept the truth that we are not in charge and that we have a greater tendency to make a big mass when we do things out of impatience. Having patience doesn’t mean missing out on opportunities, but being able to find the precise moment to utilize opportunities and execute actions without emotional compromises. Yet the biggest benefit of being patient is that you wait with hopefulness and a positive attitude, meaning while waiting you are still joyful about your life.
Blessings, Rev. Junchol Lee