The Men of Iron Minute

by Chad Zueck | Director of Content Creation

Lines, Lines, Lines

This time of year, lines start stacking up. People are out in droves, swelling restaurants, and department stores. The wait line at your favorite restaurant is longer, and tempers are getting shorter. Your “emergency” is not another person’s priority. My wife and I went to a large box store yesterday, and the check-out lines looked like Black Friday. It was crazy. All the lines merged as little canals into a river of humanity. You couldn’t tell where it started and where it ended. It was a sight.

Everywhere we go, people wait – on a cashier, a barber, the teacher, or a mother-in-law. Most guys don’t like to wait. They, like myself, would easily bypass a line to make anything happen sooner. Give us the self-check, and we can cruise out at our pace. We love that theme parks put in the “fast pass,” but even that isn’t fast enough. The allure of getting there quicker adds to the competitive nature. Waiting takes patience, and patience requires hurdling over self-reliance. Self-reliance offers a bit of assurance-faulty assurance. Being self-reliant doesn’t mean agency. Agency, or the ability to make things happen, is not absolute. We can make things happen when God allows for something to take place. God’s providence is absolute. Therein lies the dichotomy of self-reliance and trust in God. It reminds me of an adage, “Don’t lean on a shovel and pray that God digs you a hole.” You’ve got to dig when it’s your time to dig and wait for God to move the “boulder” before you start digging.

Waiting is a part of life, but it isn’t a part of the life we usually like. Believe it or not, waiting does help us.

It makes us slow down.

It brings more perseverance.

It reminds us of what is important.

It kills the itch for instant gratification.

It shares a perspective that God is in control.

Waiting in life is just a reminder that we are not in control.

We have agency, but we don’t have control.

What would you add to this?

I am not in a rush.

Take your time. I’ll wait.

Be a mentor.

Find a mentor.

Be a better man.

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