The Failure of Immediate Victory

There is nothing so weak, for working purposes, as this enormous importance attached to immediate victory. There is nothing that fails like success.

Displaced Gratification

People often discuss the importance of delayed gratification; what do you mean when you talk about "displaced gratification"?

In delayed gratification, ...

Waiting for Something Better

When my son, Rusty, was five, he wanted a ball glove. So I took him, and we went to three or four stores to get a glove to fit a tiny hand. No store had ...

Patience in Suffering

He is not truly patient who will suffer only as much as he pleases or from whom he pleases. A truly patient man gives no heed from whom he suffers, whether ...

Worship When You Feel Weary

"I can't do it!" I cried to God. "I can't handle the housework, my work, the loneliness of a husband who works so much." Then ...

Redeeming the Time

During World War II, economist E. F. Schumacher, then a young statistician, worked on a farm. Each day he would count the 32 head of cattle, then turn ...

Delayed Growth

I believe God wants us to be successful ... and yet success is not always obvious. The Chinese bamboo tree does absolutely nothing--or so it seems--for ...

Lessons of Waiting

Second only to suffering, waiting may be the greatest teacher and trainer in godliness, maturity, and genuine spirituality most of us ever encounter.

Patience of a Lotus Seed

Some years ago a lotus seed was germinated after lying dormant for several thousand years in a peat bog. Human beings don't live that long--at least ...

Spiritual Growth Beneath the Surface

So many times, you can't see anything happening week to week. Spiritual growth takes place beneath the surface.