Patience: Worth the Wait (3-minute read)

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⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.”

I Corinthians 13:4-8

From time to time, we meet people who seem different than other people we know. They may be strangers who seem extra caring, loving and kind; more peaceful, joyful, gentle and have great endurance. You may even be impressed by their patience. It may seem like these people have the holiday spirit all year long. Yes-these are all positive traits we sometimes see in others people we meet. We may also see these qualities in our loved ones and even experience them in ourselves, as well. In combination, they may be outward signs of them being a believing Christian.

Take a minute now, and think about it. Have you ever met, or do you know someone that has and shares these traits with others? I’m sure you have! According to the New Testament in the Bible, these traits have a name. In scripture they are called the ‘Fruit of the Spirit’:

^“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience [forbearance], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

Galatians 5:22-23

 

Patience Doesn’t cost You Anything

Truth is, it doesn’t cost you anything to be loving, kind, patient, kind, peace-filled, joyful, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled. But these qualities are not always easy to live out—unless you have the Holy Spirit living within you. Then the Holy Spirit helps you to do so and share these traits with others wherever you go.

Though there are 9 traits that the Bible calls the ‘Fruit of the Spirit,’ today we will be focusing on ‘patience.’ Patience is necessary to living a happy life.There is a reason why in the above scripture it is mentioned 4^th. It’s just that important! Being impatient can make us very unhappy.—bitter even. Patience is key to being able to wait for all kinds of things. Just think about it…

Every day we wait for something. We have to wait to feel better when we get sick. We have to wait for test results to come back from the doctor.  Wait for our computer to turn on or reboot. We have to wait to hear whether our next check will come in so we can pay our bills. Or wait to get the apartment or home we hoped we would get. We have to work hard and wait to graduate from school. We have to wait to hear if we got the perfect job we applied for. Wait, wait, wait.  we need to wait for God to act in our life after we pray, Waiting for God to answer our prayers is probably the hardest time of waiting there is. It is easy to pray to God, in the name of Jesus, then second guess Him if there is a delay in his answering our prayers.

 

While We Wait

While we wait, we may feel like God hasn’t heard our prayers when they don’t seem to be answered right away. We may experience doubt in God’s ability or willingness to help us. So we continue our pattern of worrying and growing anxious about whatever we prayed about. We may slip into a pit of depression and/or despair as we wait and become impatient. We may feel that all is lost after we pray and time goes by with no answer. At such times it is easy to believe that God has forgotten us, and His silence seems deafening.

But sometimes God makes us wait for our own good. That’s where patience comes in. Perhaps He saved you from getting hurt in an accident; or from taking the wrong job. Perhaps He had you have to wait for those medical test results until you were able to handle the news of a cancer diagnosis. Can you think of a time when you prayed and the answer did not come right away? I’m sure you can! Nothing stokes impatience quicker than a delay in getting an answer to your heartfelt prayers. But you are not alone as you wait…

Here are a few things we can all do while we wait for our prayers to be answered:

 

7 Ways to Grow in Patience through Prayer

• Know that God loves you just as you are and wants the best for you.
• Believe that God has a plan for you and your life.
• Pray and ask God to give you all of the fruit of the spirit, especially patience.
• Trust that God will always answer you, yes, no, maybe, or not yet, But He will answer you in His is own special time and way.
• Know that we serve a God of surprises.
• Try to stay busy as you wait and watch to see what God does next in your life.
• Remember God loves you and works all things out for good.

Yes, patience is very important for us to live content and happy lives—most especially as we wait for God to answer our prayers. Now that we’ve talked about patience, next blog we will talk next time about the value of ‘persistence.’ The 2 are very closely connected together. Meanwhile, you may want to think about the above things you can do to grow in patience. Your happiness may depend on it!

© Copyright   |   Adele M. Gill

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