Perspective on 'Patience'

Expectations: I set mine high and then work my hardest to achieve those expectations. but i'm really hard on myself and therefore i get impatient

Example: The example I always use is my devotional life. I have the expectation that twice a day is minimum for devotions. So, let's say I'm feeling particularly spiritual. If so, I set an expectation that every day I will do my devotions twice a day. Let's say that my spiritual feeling dies off fairly quickly and I skip a devotion at night. My patience does not tolerate this. I must be completely devoted to devotions immediately after I promise myself (and God) that I will follow through.

Conclusions: My expectations are high (perfect devotional life) and my impatience is high (skipping one day = damned to hell). But setting high expectations is a good thing. It gives me something to shoot for. What I really need to understand is that growth is a process. It's not an overnight activity where the next morning muscles are bulging or bank accounts are overflowing. This may be a general statement, but all good things take time to achieve. If they're good, then they're probably worth working towards.

God could send Jesus back right now and everyone would be perfect. There would be no more need for setting expectations. But that's the whole point: we need to seek it, knowing the promises that He has of perfection in the new creation.

Ultimate Conclusion: Sometimes our expectations do not line up with God's expectations. Perhaps the reason I (we) get impatient is because God wants me (us) to choose what He wants for me (us), not what I (we) want for ourselves. Take on one of His desires for you and patience will come.