If there is one thing people in our generation hate to do, it is to wait. And why should we? We can Google questions rather than wait for an answer. We can order shoes online rather than suffering the long weekend lines at the retail store. We can even book reservations ahead of time rather than waiting for a table at our favorite establishment.

But God doesn’t operate any faster in the twenty-first century than He did in the first. And so while we rush ourselves, we can’t rush God. In fact, much of life is spent waiting.

I was talking to my daughter Megan today about miracles. She was commenting on the fact that just because miracles don’t happen instantaneously doesn’t mean they aren’t miracles.

This is certainly the case for Megan and her husband, Joel. They have been patiently working through the adoption process now for more than a year. They still don’t have their babies, but this does not mean that God is not at work.

I am good at a few things. But waiting is not one of them. Whether it is being put on hold when I call a business, sitting in the waiting room of my dentist’s office, or standing in the security line at the airport, I am impatient.

As I am writing this tonight, we are waiting on the test results for my granddaughter, Libby. She has had strange symptoms for a couple of years. Finally, after she vomited again this afternoon, my daughter, Mindy, took her to the emergency room. My wife, Gail, dropped what she was doing to be at her side.

Recently, I wrote about how leaders must learn to handle criticism and overlook offenses. I think this is the number one way that leaders can get derailed and rendered ineffective.

A few days ago, I ran into a story in reading the Desert Fathers, that illustrated the point beautifully:

As a leader, you are going to draw fire. People will criticize you. Some will second-guess your decisions. Others will impute motives that aren’t there. A few will falsely accuse you.

For example, just a few weeks ago, someone wrote a blog post, publicly calling me a hypocrite. I won’t lie: it stung. I was tempted to respond in kind. Thankfully, I didn’t.

Perhaps you’ve noticed: customer service has deteriorated noticeably since the recession began. Fewer waiters in restaurants. Slower room service in hotels. Longer wait times for support.

This is hardly surprising. With significant layoffs in almost every industry, fewer people are available to provide the level of service you have come to expect. Everyone is scrambling. Many are stumbling.