Dad’s first new car, a blue/white 1962 Rambler Classic 4 door sedan.
“Patience is more than endurance. A saint’s life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, and He stretches and strains, and every now and again the saint says — ‘I cannot stand anymore.’ God does not heed, He goes on stretching till His purpose is in sight, the He lets fly. Trust yourself in God’s hands.”- Oswald Chambers
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”- Romans 12:12
“People ask me a lot about the values I got from playing for the Cubs for so many years (1953-1971). The value I got out of it was patience.”- Ernie Banks, “Mr. Cub”
In the summer of 1962, after 13+ years of marriage, my parents – Bill and Elinor- bought their first new car. For a little over $2,000, they purchased a blue/white Rambler Classic 4 door sedan from South Side Rambler on South Ashland Avenue in Chicago. The Rambler replaced an aging, green metallic 1949 Chevrolet Fleetline Coupe.
One notable feature of the Classic was a safer, twin circuit brake system. Only a few cars used this in 1962. However, my most vivid memory centers on the colorful push buttons that engaged the automatic transmission. In addition, I remember the rounded upper window points on the back door and the rounded tail lamps. With the demise of the Electroliner, the Rambler provided reliable highway transportation.
Approximately three hundred years ago, a prisoner in the Tower of London carved the following words in his cell wall. He truly understood that patience is more than endurance:
“It is not adversity that kills, but the impatience with which we bear adversity.”
As Jared C. Wilson discerns in The Imperfect Disciple, at its root, impatience reflects confusion about control. In other words, impatience represents the rotten fruit of self-sovereignty. To our chagrin, people and circumstances don’t operate as if we’re the center of the universe! Therefore, we need the gospel to cultivate patience in us. For patience is more than endurance. Denial of our adversity, in contrast, fosters impatience. Hence, as we trust our sovereign God, who ordains all things, we grow more patient with others. And we relax in God’s better hands. We realize what impatience costs us in our relationship with God. We enjoy abiding in Christ.
In conclusion, Pastor Wilson summarizes how the gospel grows patience through humbling:
“We are sinners who stand only by the virtue of grace. . . . saved by grace alone. Knowing this helps us climb down from our pedestals. It’s at the top that we mistakenly inflate our own sense of importance. Coming down to see that the ground is level at the foot of the cross helps us regard others with more thoughtfulness — and more patience.”
