Patience

In Sunday school today, Marv listed various forms of communication on the white board. He started with party lines and snail mail and continued through cell phone, text messaging and twitter.

Isn't it amazing how technology has advanced in the last few decades? I remember all of these types of communication. Our family didn't have a party line when I was small, but I remember Mom talking about them. I remember when faxes came into existence (using that terrible thermal paper on a roll), when cell phones were actually car phone, bolted to the car, and when computers took up a room and required one to schedule time to use them compared to small, mysterious machines that sit on your lap while you type and watch TV (as I am now).

With this on rush of technological change in the last few decades and the resulting speed of communication, have we become an impatient society? Do we have any ability to invest time and wait for results?

We laugh at Abraham and Sarah as they became impatient with God's promise for a family, but they waited so LONG between God's promise and the results. Would we even come close to the kind of patience and faith they demonstrated?

Could we wait seven years while working for someone before the promised reward was delivered (as Jacob did for his wife?). What about the patience of Simeon, waiting to see the Messiah?

Has the way we live changed our ability to demonstrate faith over a long period of time?