“We become more impatient with shorter time frames.”

A thought by Mark Batterson, (2015-10-06) from his book, If: Trading Your If Only Regrets for God's What If Possibilities (Kindle Locations 2244-2245). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

We know that don’t we? I mean, try to sit at a stoplight when the light has turned green. There will be a least one person who honks at the exact time it turns red. And then what about in that express check out line? We can be very impatient.

Mark says, “By the by, if you live in a city with a population of more than a million people, like I do, a pause will seem twice as long as it does to someone who lives in a small town. It’s called time-warping. We all have an internal metronome, and it ticks a little faster in the city than it does in the country.”

Mark continues, “In the grand scheme of things, a two-minute wait or two-second delay are no big deal, right? But in short time frames, we are incredibly impatient. Now, that is actually good news because the opposite is also true: the longer you wait, the easier it is to wait a little longer. Why? You’re strengthening your patience muscle!”

I started reading today in Peter’s first letter that we find in the New Testament in the Bible and he starts it by saying, “Mat God give you more and more peace and more grace.” Maybe sitting in your car four cars back and the light turns green you pray for God to give you more and more peace and more grace instead of honking. Maybe we can also learn to have patience in the shorter time frames.

So how many seconds before you honk?

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