One could overlook the deeper...
Illustration
One could overlook the deeper dimension of the Greek word translated as "patience" in verse 11. The Greek word hupomene, William Barclay tells us, means not just bearing things, but it is "the ability to deal triumphantly with anything that life can do to us."
If we understand that, we have a different meaning of success. B. C. Forbes wrote, "The man (we don't have to restrict this to males) who has done his level best, and who is conscious that he has done his best, is a success, even though the world may write him down a failure."
Andrew "Smokey" Evans led the Cardinal Ritter basketball team to the Missouri Class 2A state championship as a junior. It might not have happened had "Smokey" only had what some would understand as patience. When he was eight, he had rubbing alcohol on his legs and wandered too close to a stove. His skin ignited and he was rushed to the hospital, eventually requiring skin grafts. The injuries were so serious that the doctors wondered if he would ever walk again. Although he was told to stay in the wheelchair for one year, he was out in three months.
That wasn't all. When "Smokey" got to Ritter he realized he was sorely lacking in an academic background, and said, "The other students seemed so smart. I felt dumb." Although taking college preparatory courses, "Smokey" has a 3.6 (out of 4) grade average. In the fall of 1991, he was to enroll at Arkansas State. It is unlikely he will make All-American, but he has taken what he had and dealt triumphantly with his problems.
--Richardson
If we understand that, we have a different meaning of success. B. C. Forbes wrote, "The man (we don't have to restrict this to males) who has done his level best, and who is conscious that he has done his best, is a success, even though the world may write him down a failure."
Andrew "Smokey" Evans led the Cardinal Ritter basketball team to the Missouri Class 2A state championship as a junior. It might not have happened had "Smokey" only had what some would understand as patience. When he was eight, he had rubbing alcohol on his legs and wandered too close to a stove. His skin ignited and he was rushed to the hospital, eventually requiring skin grafts. The injuries were so serious that the doctors wondered if he would ever walk again. Although he was told to stay in the wheelchair for one year, he was out in three months.
That wasn't all. When "Smokey" got to Ritter he realized he was sorely lacking in an academic background, and said, "The other students seemed so smart. I felt dumb." Although taking college preparatory courses, "Smokey" has a 3.6 (out of 4) grade average. In the fall of 1991, he was to enroll at Arkansas State. It is unlikely he will make All-American, but he has taken what he had and dealt triumphantly with his problems.
--Richardson
