S6E01 - A Proverb on PERSEVERANCE & PATIENCE - “Pípẹ́ ni yó pẹ̀ẹ́, akólòlò á pe baba”

Omoluabi Podcast | Season 6 Episode 1

PROVERB CONSIDERED: “Pípẹ́ ni yó pẹ̀ẹ́, akólòlò á pe baba.” (Translation: “It may take a long while, but the stammerer will eventually manage to say ‘‘Papa.’’”)

REFLECTION

Perhaps this proverb reminds you—as it reminded me—of a stammerer you know. Or perhaps, it reminds you of yourself and your occasional stutter. Stammering can be embarrassing, but the way the stammerer is portrayed in this proverb is as a champion that we should learn from. What kind of lessons can stammering teach us?

1. It’s only a matter of time. Between a stammerer’s stutter and their being able to say what they intend to say eventually, it’s only a matter of time. Likewise, between where you are and where you hope to be—or between who you are and who you hope to become—it’s only a matter of time! That’s the wisdom of Ecclesiastes 3, verses 1 and 11.

2. Refrain from giving unsolicited assistance. Whether you are helping someone with whom you are speaking complete their sentence or you are offering your spouse an unsolicited solution to a matter to which they primarily desire your empathy, offering unsolicited assistance can stifle intimacy rather than nourish it. Besides, if stammering nurtures perseverance in us (as the proverb surely implies), offering unsolicited assistance in helping the stammerer complete their statements will kill their opportunity to develop their perseverance further. 

3. There is a blessing in our disabilities and incompetence. God, in His sovereignty, has blessed us with limitations that become tools that shape us into ever-increasing Christlikeness. The more we acknowledge our limitations, the more we will live a life that is fully dependent on Jesus—and the more we will bear the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

4. Stammering reminds us that failure—even repeated failure—is okay. The stammerer fails again and again before eventually being able to say a word, phrase, or statement correctly, but they don’t give up. Besides, for the stammerer, the fact that they were able to get the word out eventually in one moment does not mean that they will be able to do it again in the next moment. Such should be our disposition in life. No matter how many wins we record, we should not become so familiar with success that failure becomes abhorrent. Failure has always been one of God’s best tools to cultivate in us humility and utter dependence on Him. Perseverance validates failures.


5. Lastly, be patient. Be patient with other (fellow) stammerers, and be patient with yourself. If we are being honest, we will admit that, at the end of the day, we are all stammerers—and that’s okay! We all have one area of life or the other where we stutter. Rather than wanting to cover these up, let us acknowledge them for what they are: portals for God’s power to find expression in our weakness!

Be encouraged by the words of Habakkuk 2:3 NKJV — “For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.”

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