God’s Plan? Patience? A bit of both… (April 2015 KOL)
“God has a plan, and I just need to have enough patience to let it unfold.”
I imagine that is how Moses felt as he was given the unbelievable task of bringing the Hebrews out of slavery to freedom and the Promised Land. It takes great faith to trust God, a being not seen, heard, or experienced for so many people. Moses had the benefit of seeing God’s back, hearing God’s voice, and experiencing God at the burning bush. It was easier to have that profound faith in God’s ultimate redemptive strategy after all of those moments of affirmation of God’s existence. Moses was less able to find the right zone on the “patience meter.” He becomes impatient with Pharaoh, with the Hebrews, and even with God, as he struck the rock to get water instead of waiting for God to provide it. It is quite the challenge to have faith and patience.
At this stage of my Jewish faith and personal journeys, I continue to work on both qualities – Faith in God’s plan and Patience. More than ever now, it appears that God has a plan, and if I can muster the patience, the plan will unfold, and … most of the time for the better.
God has a plan. In some ways, this idea makes life easier for a “believer.” Yet, it really requires more faith and trust and dependence than most modern Jews and humans have. And for non-believers in God, or a God with a Plan, the fact that you are ‘on your own’ often presents an insurmountable challenge, and often feels like a great personal burden. For Jews, knowing that God has a plan, does not ever mean that we lose our freedom to choose. We are free to choose our view of God, our relationship with that God, and whether we are willing to live on God’s time, God’s path, and God’s vision for us, personally or collectively. The Hebrews weren’t sure about this “God thing,” or Moses, God’s representative, for that matter. Relying on God’s plan has risks, and we have always understood hedge management, the need to hedge those risks with a safe alternative.
Patience. In the world of Instagram and the increased need for immediate satisfaction, where answers are demanded instantaneously and other people feel they can determine when and how you answer their demands based on their view of what social media you should be enslaved to minute by minute, patience is no longer a virtue many people strive for. Some believe there is no need to be patient, because waiting is a thing of the past. So, they cut you off, only to meet up at the next light. I will never understand the need to EVER text while driving a car, the need to clear email when you are sitting with loved ones, friends or on vacation, and the passion for needing to look at someone else’s pictures RIGHT NOW, instead of taking your own pictures and embracing the moment you are living in. Patienceis a lost art. Patience requires putting our own immediate needs on hold. Patience demands looking at a bigger picture through a longer and wider lens. Patience is about others and trust, in a world that focuses on “me” and skepticism. Patience recognizes that your time is not the only thing on someone else’s radar. Patience requires more respect and perspective than many people are willing or able to give.
“God has a plan, and I just need to have enough patience to let it unfold.”
Today, more than ever, this is my mantra. This is how I am getting through the time and uncertainty of our search for an assistant rabbi. More than anything, we are committed to finding the right person and the best fit we can find for our amazing congregation. I want someone who will love you as much as you love her/him. I want you to have the very best there is and to know that we didn’t “settle” in the process, because of a burning need to “fill the position” as quickly as possible.
With faith and patience, both in good measure, we have discovered the most wonderful candidates, who have phenomenal skills, talents, and maturity, at the end of our search. With faith and patience, I think we are all realizing that the final choice will be worth the wait and the journey. Our hope is that by this time next month, we will be able to announce the finalist for our position. It is not a race, nor is it a beauty contest. It has been a sacred journey to discover what we need and how best to match that need for a religious leader with the people who are available, who desire to come to the suburbs of Virginia.
God has a plan and our patience will pay off. I am hopeful. I believe.
This life lesson can apply to other choices you face personally and we face as a congregation. Who knows what the future holds for you? Should you take the first job, or the rightjob? And what is the right job? Does the pain you are enduring today have any purpose? Is this really God’s plan, and what choices do you need to make, or actions do you need to take, to move that plan forward. It wasn’t enough for God to want the people of Israel to be free. They needed to agree and to act with their feet. There is a partnership in the plan.
As the church goes up next door to us, and we come off a very long winter with an aging building, the leadership realizes that there are many choices and dreams ahead. Some require patience, and others require faith. In the world of pipes and pipe dreams, we Jews are practical enough to realize that you fix the pipes before you dream of a world without the alarms that alert you to their need to be fixed.
Ultimately, life is about trust. Trust the process. Trust your judgment. Trust the people with whom you share life’s journey.
This Passover season, I trust the God who led us out of Egypt. I trust our leadership at Temple B’nai Shalom. And I am learning patience to navigate this God-given world on God’s time, not mine.
With trust in you and in partnership with you,
Rabbi Perlin