“Lord, I want patience and I want it RIGHT NOW!” You’ve probably heard this illustration of an impatient person praying for patience. We also hear people say, “Don’t ask God for patience. He will bring all kinds of trouble into your life.” First biblical truth about impatience we should note is that patience is not a gift of the Spirit. We won’t get up from the altar or wake up one morning and discover we have become patient. Patience is a fruit of the Spirit. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal 5:22, 23). Fruit requires time to grow and ripen. The Bible uses farmers as examples of patience. You see farmers do this all the time, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, patiently letting the rain do its slow but sure work (Jam 5:7 MSG).
In the NT, two main words are translated patience. The most common literally means, ‘remain under’, as to remain under a load. The second means ‘long tempered’ or the ability to hold one’s temper for a long time. The word developed from a description of water ‘taking a long time to boil’. The KJV translates it longsuffering. A patient person can endure hardship and suffering without complaint. They are slow to anger because their faith is rooted in Christ and they wait for God to provide comfort and punish wrongdoing.
Patience has never been a virtue I possess. Although it has improved through the years, I would still rate it as my weakest fruit of the Spirit. Bottom line for me—I hate waiting, wasting my time. Thankfully, my personal doctor operates an efficient office. However, I could not begin counting the appointments I have walked out of because of the wait. I’ve offered to teach a time management course to a few. I refuse to go to the post office or any government office. More than once, I have left a shopping cart full of items and went to another store; especially when the store has only one cashier with nine more checkout aisles closed. My grandson yells at bad drivers in traffic and says he learned it from me. Ok, you get the idea. Further confirming that I still need development of my patience was when I started this SW. I can normally go back to my teaching notes and find a lesson I‘ve taught or a topical study on the subject. For patience, nothing, I had never done a study. I was surprised how prevalent patience was mentioned in Scripture. Noted author A.W. Pink says that far less has been written on God’s attribute of patience than any other.
Without His patience, sinful humanity would probably not exist. The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression (Num 14:18 NKJV). God takes a long time before His anger boils toward us. We can look at evil dictators in the world today and wonder why God doesn’t reign down fire as James and John asked Jesus to do (Lk 9:54). Peter would later give God’s reason. He is patient and longsuffering because He wants all to come to repentance. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance (2Pe 3:9).
Paul told Timothy pursue . . . patience (1 Tim 6:11 NKJV). Pursue is also translated run after, seek after, and endeavor earnestly to acquire. The Holy Spirit produces the fruit. I can’t make a single apple grow on my trees. Yet, I pursue growth by cultivating the trees, pruning them, feeding, watering them, and applying pesticides as needed. The tree will then produce fruit. We pursue the fruit of patience by cultivating our life through prayer, knowing, believing, acting upon the Word, and allowing the Spirit to rule our life. In addition, it is essential we keep our eyes on the goal, which will strengthen our patience. Jesus exhibited patience on the cross. Let us run with endurance [same word as patience] the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured [same word as patience] the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb 12:1, 2). Jesus demonstrated patience by focusing on the joy that would come after the cross when He would sit at the right hand of God on the throne.
Impatience can bring negative life changing consequences. Note three examples of impatience: Ishmael was born because of impatience of Abraham and Sarah; Moses could not enter the Promised Land because he was impatient with the people and struck the rock instead of speaking to it. God rejected Saul as King because he became impatient with Samuel’s delay and offered the sacrifices himself.
Asking God to help us grow in patience will not bring addition troubles. Learn to live with the trials of life you already face but see them as an opportunity, by which the Holy Spirit can mature your patience (Jam 1:3). Be patient with yourself, when you fail at showing patience to others. The fruit of patience is a lifetime process of growth.
Sustaining Word for the Week: Patience develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation (Rom 5:4 NLT).