The Fruit of Patience

Summer is almost over, can you believe it?! It is crazy how time flies and yet patience is something we as believers struggle so often with. Isn't it interesting how the greatest things in life seem to be the things we wait the longest for? The whole mentality of American culture is "I want it now" and quite often we get it right when we want it, but there is something so precious about patience, essential to the Christian's maturity and Christ likeness.

Patience is a word that is shunned both by culture and even in the evangelical world. It is something that we are not fond of in our flesh because it hurts, hurts our flesh that is. It produces a refined sort of character as if one has just been put through the fire, tested and tried. Patience has been the theme of my walk with the Lord, or one of them I should say, one because it is a huge part of every believer's life and two because it is something that I needed EXTRA refining in. You see I was never the one who did well with waiting for things, especially when it came to something I desired so much. So God, in His love and providence decided that trial after trial in my life would breed a deep rooted endurance and longsuffering as I was forced to be patient consistently.

What I have learned however is the value, the rich value of this character trait or discipline of the Godly life. I have found that in my patience God has drawn even nearer and in the fruition of the blessing, whatever unfolded, I have experienced a kind of joy that motivates a glorying in God I can't even describe. The waiting produced gratitude unexplainable. And the blessings that came in the end were greater than what I had imagined to begin with. I like what Jerry Bridges says, "The fruit of patience in all its aspects – long-suffering, forbearance, endurance, and perseverance – is a fruit that is most intimately associated with our devotion to God. All character traits of godliness grow out of and have their foundation in our devotion to God, but the fruit of patience must grow out of that relationship in a particular way." This is SO true, the fruit of patience is abundant and again is essential to the Christian life.

I can't tell you how many times in my life I tried to take God's plans into my own hands and help him out, to bring to fruition desires in my heart, to somehow manipulate God's will. What God quickly taught me, through trial, was that HE WAS IN CONTROL and no matter what I did, HIS will alone would prevail. I began to realize that I needed to start preaching to myself instead of listening to my selfish heart. Bridges again gets it right when he says, "The cure for impatience with the fulfillment of God’s timetable is to believe His promises, obey His will, and leave the results to Him. So often when God’s timetable stretches into years we become discouraged and…want to give up or try to work something out on [our] own." I needed to exhibit patience by having faith.

And where is our example of patience found in its perfect form? In Christ, and in God the Father as we see a patient enduring, bearing with that all who would be chosen would come to faith in Him. God looks on as the world lives counter to His will so to speak and patiently calls the chosen ones to Him.

Faith in this perfect God should compel obedience that leads to patience. And this patience will draw the child of God closer to him and reveal even more of Christ in their life. And what is the best reality of all is that He is working maturity in you that you would be complete and therefore your joy will only increase and the blessings will only become sweeter. You see patience is but a means to an end, Christ likeness, and only there is true joy and peace found. Therefore, be patient, wait on HIM, trust HIS promises, believe them and remember that His timetable is often different then our own but that His plans that will come to fruition in that time are ALWAYS better.