It's Time to Get Serious About PATIENCE

To say I am not the most patient person is probably an understatement. Throughout my life I have tended to be one who makes quick decisions based on “signs” and likes to have what I want when I want it. Although God has sanctified me TREMENDOUSLY in this area in the past 4-5 years I am definitely far from perfection and it is through this sanctification that God reiterates over and over again how important patience is in the life of His child.

Patience…the connotation of that word is not something that any of us warm up to. It is not something that we are naturally inclined to or we would sign ourselves up for possessing. Take for example a line at the grocery store; you find the one with the shortest number of people because of course you don’t have the “time” to wait, but although this may sometimes be the case, often times reality is you just don’t have the patience. I could go on and on with many examples of what it means to lack patience but I am sure that if you take just a moment to think a plethora of them will fill your head.

Recently I decided to do a word study of what patience means and how that even pertains to the walk of the Christian. What I found during this time was both encouraging and oh so convicting…but it has put in me a new desire to strive for this attribute, this fruit of the Spirit, and to plead and depend on the Lord for it.

From the Dictionary
Patience (noun) The capacity, habit, or fact of being patient
Patient (adjective) 1: bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint2: manifesting forbearance under provocation or strain3: not hasty or impetuous4: steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity5 a: able or willing to bear

A definition of having patience: The capacity, habit or fact of bearing trials without complaint, manifesting forbearance under strain, not hasty, steadfast despite opposition, and the ability to bear or willing to bear under

What does the Bible say about patience?
The original word meaning “to have patience” makroqumevw- to be of a long spirit, not to lose heart
1. to persevere patiently and bravely in enduring misfortunes and troubles
2. to be patient in bearing the offenses and injuries of others
1. to be mild and slow in avenging
2. to be longsuffering, slow to anger, slow to punish

Here are some verses that help extend the meaning:
Proverbs 19:11- A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.

Ecclesiastes 7:8- The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.

Galatians 5:22- But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness…

Colossians 1:10-12- And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[a] to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

Colossians 3:12- Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
1 Timothy 1:16- But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.

Hebrews 6:12- We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

2 Peter 3:15- Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.

As we begin looking at what having patience means as we have seen a clearer explanation above we first need to admit that we struggle in this area. That we as humanity struggle to wait for what we want… That our desires often become demands. Our cultural teaches us that we deserve to get what we want when we want it and our culture on the flip slide shys away from making us work hard for anything. But as Christians we are to be counter-cultural and set apart and that means that 1. We are required to develop patience and 2. We have to work hard to obtain it. Yes, it is only by the grace of God that any of this can be achieved, but Christ commands us to work out our salvation as well. Once we realize that we have a weakness in this area and that we in fact do often give into our fleshly desire to “have it now” we must begin to realize that we need to fight it head on. We need to begin exhibiting self-control, trusting in God’s faithfulness, and exhibiting contentment with where God has us today.

When we are 15 we can’t wait for our 16th birthday so we can drive…when we turn 16 we just want to be 18 so we can get out of high school…when we graduate high school we just want to go away to college…when we get to college we just want to be done with it and in the work force…and the list goes on. Is there a common theme here? We are always looking ahead, we are always looking to the future…our impatience drives us to being discontent with where we are today. But what we MUST realize is God does not want us always looking to the next step (now obviously there is wisdom in daily life and the place of our hope in eternal glory) but he wants us enduring today, He wants us pressing on today, he wants to use us fully today; because the fact of the matter is we don’t know how many days we have been given. We want to be working faithfully when he comes, and if we are not faithfully being fully used today because we are so wrapped up in future wants/desires/needs, the Lord may come back and we may not be doing what He would desire for us to be doing.

Our prayers need to change from “Lord give me this desire” to “Lord enable me to have the strength to trust in your faithfulness in this area, to be patient for you to fulfill your promises”. We need to begin re-evaluating our prayer life. Are we praying willingly…meaning are we praying that God would do HIS will and not our own…are we praying willing to have whatever answer God has to our petitions (Yes, No, Wait) or do we pray demanding he give us what we deserve (although that would never be the tone we would use). When we pray do we believe that He has the power to answer our prayers? But do we trust that His answers are the best and that His answers are in HIS timing and not our own?

If we need an example of what patience is we can look to our Father in heaven who exhibited and still exhibits ultimate patience. We read in 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” That means that God is patient with executing his wrath and judgment so that people come to saving faith! What true patience that is. Think about it for a second…God foresees all of creation falling harder and harder as time goes on yet He decides to exhibit patience because of His love. Wow! We need to take heed to His example. If we are to be imitators of Him that means we are to be imitators of Him in patience as well.
How does the world see us as different if we are patient? If we always compromise to get what we want? If we give into temptation and sin and don’t fight hard to be patient? Is it hard work? YES, but as with anything worth working for it is not going to come easy. Going against our flesh is the story of the Christian’s life but although it is marked with difficulty and tough times it is marked with increased sanctification in becoming more like the Son.

As I continue to study the whole idea of patience and the manifestation of it in our daily lives I am still learning day by day and will continue to learn but I have begun thinking that developing patience is practical. When we can have patience in our daily lives with the little things it is much easier to have it with the bigger things…so I urge you, BE PATIENT!

Remember that patience is a result of salvation…it is part of the sanctification process and because of that as you grow in Christ, your patience should be increasing. We must remember at the same time that we must do the job of working hard to grow in this area (as with all Christian disciplines/virtues). Today is the day we must stop being hasty, unwise, and lacking trust in God and instead begin working hard at being patient, wise, and choosing to trust in the faithfulness of our perfect Creator. The result will be blessing because you will have the constant reminder of God’s faithfulness tied to the great peace He provides as you trust in His perfection…and let’s face it, God ALWAYS gets it right!