Patience in the Process

For the past couple days I've been going over Proverbs 14. It has some rich verses that made me reflect on work and relationships. They take a lot of effort and require practicing patience in order to make them successful. Oxen... labor... slow... The following are verses that made these three words meaningful.

• Oxen: Proverbs 14:4 - "Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox."
• Oxen are symbolic of work. A Wikipedia and Google search shows that these creatures are powerful and suited to do heavy tasks. Oxen are slow and steady and have a calmer temperament than other animals trained for work. Solomon's mention of a "crib" makes you realize that where there is oxen, you have a mess. Solomon's statement draws your attention to two admirable things: (1) cleanliness and all the things that are associated with that (organization, perfection, etc);  and (2) trudgery, which I'd describe as working methodically through hardship to accomplish big things. Solomon hints that having the mess is a better value.
• The oxen caused me to reflect on my work path. My path has not been linear or organized and the path before me still looks unclear. God has led me through twists and turns, which sometimes feels messy. This verse was encouraging for me to keep on trudging through it. With every twist and turn I'm growing and getting stronger. Wealth and increase comes with hard work, which takes a little mess. Sometimes we have to embrace letting go of our perfectly laid plans to experience the greatness that God has for us. I'm trusting in his greatness being fulfilled in my life.

• Labor: Proverbs 14:23 - "In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury."
• Solomon states the obvious here. We are rewarded with money and wealth when we put our bodies and minds into accomplishing a job or task. However, when we only let our mouths do the "work", meaning we only talk about our goals and what we wish to do, no actual labor is done. Solomon says this is likely to lead to "penury" - extreme poverty and inadequacy.
• This verse reminded me that we need to do the work and follow through. Personally, I am very comfortable with being the "idea creator" - that's my sweet spot. It's easy for me to come up with a vision for different projects and needs, but I constantly need to train myself to diligently follow through with the work. What has been helpful is creating work plans and talking to others about my next steps in order to hold me accountable for my ideas. Interestingly, I've seen the opposite to be true too. Sometimes a person's sweet spot is just doing the work and not participating in the dreaming. There's no problem with this preference until the work disappears and there are no ideas for creating new work. I only point this difference out to say that whatever our "sweet spot" is, we need to push past it and get to what feels like "labor". When we push ourselves past what's comfortable and get to the labor, profit is guaranteed.

• Slow: Proverbs 14:29 - "He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly."
• When people or situations become frustrating, two choices lay before us. We can be calm and keep our cool, or rush in with our answer to the problem. Solomon tells us that we should slow down our physiological and physical response to problems. Sometimes, reacting with our gut emotion leads to us hurting others, misreading what's going on, or looking foolish. Solomon implies that being purposefully slow in our response allows us the time needed to look for the reason behind a behavior or a situation.
• Over the last month I've participated in a few conflict resolution workshops. They were excellent and reiterate Solomon's age-old observation. We need to change the way our brains react to stressful situations. Practicing patience in our reaction and in our response, allows us to have a better understanding of the problem and allows us to resolve complications with wisdom.

It's so affirming to read Solomon's words about wisdom and see that our modern teachings repackage the strategies already laid out in the Bible. It's affirming because it's another confirmation of the Bible's rightness and a reminder of its accessibility to all. Let's be wise as we approach how we work and relate with each other. This takes diligence and patience - strengths that aren't always within our base nature. Thankfully, our personal ability or lack of ability doesn't matter, because the tools we need to make us successful are right there and freely shared in the Bible. What an awesome gift we have!