Patience....

Okay, how many of you saw this coming? This picture is of a gas station in Matthews, Missouri (a few miles south of Sikeston) that we stopped at on Thanksgiving Day for gas on the way to Memphis. We were paying right at 4.00 a gallon for gas this summer. I remember getting excited coming home from Myrtle Beach the first part of October and seeing a couple of stations selling gas for 2.99.

I remember people telling me that gas would be at five, six, or seven dollars a gallon by years end. “Experts” said we’d never see gas at less than 3.00 a gallon again. Numerous people, politicians and pundits said the government need to step in “and do something!”

Meanwhile, people started driving less and driving more fuel efficient cars. The price of a barrel of oil plummeted (from almost 150 a barrel to 50 a barrel now) and eventually the cost of a gallon of gas followed. Demand went down and supply went up so prices went down. Econ 101.

To me, this shows the need for patience. Dave Ramsey puts it aptly when he calls us “a microwave society”. We expect things to happen “right now”. I have a big problem with patience. When I lack patience, it generally boils down to my being selfish and thinking I am more important than others. When I do that, I am going against the Christian principle of esteeming others higher than myself (Luke 22:39). Patience is one of the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:9,10 so it is certainly a quality all Christians should possess