“Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly.” — Proverbs 14:29
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Ask any athlete who has achieved anything noteworthy in their sport and pretty much every one of them will tell you that patience is a vital trait to success. One can’t really get anywhere close to accomplishing their goals or winning titles if they aren’t willing to let the process play out and bide their time until the right things align for them to step through that door of opportunity. The key is being ready and prepared for that moment, but all would agree that things like that can’t be rushed or forced. They must fall into place as they’re meant to, and one has to be willing to wait for the proper time to make their move.
Rafael Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, spoke of this once in an interview when he was describing his strategy for playing other tennis greats back in the day. He said patience was it.
“If I have to wait for the rally to stretch to 10 shots or 12 or 15 to bide my chance to hit a winner, I’ll wait,” he said. “There are moments when you have a chance to go for a winning drive, but you have a 70% chance of succeeding; you wait five shots more, and your odds will have improved to 85%. So be alert, be patient, don’t be rash.”
Nadal understood that there was wisdom in knowing the right moment to make a move — too soon or too late would be a mistake.
The Bible also talks a lot about the value of patience, especially as it pertains to being on God’s timing and not our own. God always has perfect timing because He knows the exact point when circumstances and people will be ready for certain things to happen. We’re the ones who play the guessing game. All we have to go on is what’s happened before and everything about our future is pure projection. We try to run out scenarios and take a stab at what we think will occur, and make our moves based on certain hopes, aspirations and dreams. But we know little to nothing about what will actually take place. That’s why it’s often easy to worry about stuff — because our brains are trying to jump ahead and determine if the future is dependable, safe and good. We’re trying to prepare ourselves for what is to come.
This is why you hear so often in Scripture things like, “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (Psalm 27:14); or, “but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31a, ESV); or, “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (Lamentations 3:25-26, ESV).
Because there truly is, indeed, “a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). And only God Himself knows what that is. That’s why it matters that we not get ahead or behind Him and we seek discernment through the Holy Spirit as to what that perfect time is, so we do not miss it when it arrives.
— Katherine Singer
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