The Ugly Imp
By Susan Klein
“Whoever is patient has great understanding…”
Standing in line and
waiting to check out, I could feel my impatience escalating. It was taking the
clerk F-O-R-E-V-E-R to check out the woman ahead of me! How do I always manage
to choose the slowest lanes? I’d already unloaded my cart onto the conveyor
belt, and now someone else was unloading behind me. There was no escaping the
wait.
What seemed like
hours later, I was greeted with a cheery smile and a “Hi! How is your day going
so far?”
Fine, until I got in this lane… griped the irritable voice in my head. Fortunately,
those thoughts stayed put. My mouth opted instead to engage the young woman in
polite conversation. Wrong choice!
She could not talk
and scan at the same time. Literally.
As she regaled me with a rather peculiar story, using her hands to emphasize
(rather than scan), it dawned on me that she had some obvious mental challenges.
Some of her word choices were inappropriate, and she seemed to occasionally
disconnect from her thoughts, stopping in mid-sentence. Her demeanor, however,
remained persistently cheerful.
Eight hours later… I huffed my way to my car. She was a simple
young woman, carrying out her duties (be it ever so slowly) and striving to be
engaging. How could I fault her? Okay,
let it go. At least you weren’t outwardly
rude to her…
Finally reaching
home and unloading my purchases, I noticed my husband’s dirty lunch dishes in
the sink. Really, twelve inches away from
the dishwasher!? This time though,
the irritable voice escaped my head and verbally unleashed on my unsuspecting
man. I honestly hate when that happens!
Impatience is ugly.
It is our sin nature to not tolerate the things that are slowing us down or thwarting
our expectations. King Solomon states, “A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it
is to his glory to overlook an offense.” [1] Guess I need to wise
up! I’m pretty sure that Jesus never had this problem.
I imagine the person who hired the young
clerk displayed much patience and gentleness. I know my husband has been generous with his patience in overlooking
many of my offenses. And I am certain that
our God is a patient God, as stated in His word. [2]
I believe that patience
likely stems from seeing people through Jesus’ eyes. Next time the Ugly Imp (aka
impatience) rears its head, I hope to choose more wisely how I respond…
recognizing that each person is created in God’s image and fully loved by Him.
GOING DEEPER:
1. What trips your trigger toward
impatience with others?
2. How might you tangibly combat the
Ugly Imp?
FURTHER
READING:
Susan is married to Mark, and co-leads an in-home small group.
She serves as a mentor to young women, and is a member of Oakwood’s Peace Team,
helping people work through conflict.
[1] Proverbs 19:11
[2] 2 Peter 3:8-9
