Patience is one of the biggest things we struggle with as people. Just today I was working and I needed to take a few extra steps to complete a project that I felt were unnecessary, so when things took longer than they should have I got impatient and just wanted to finish the task. We are not good at waiting for things, especially not in this instant gratification culture within which we live. There are two key areas that I think we most struggle with patience: patience with other people and patience with God.
It is not easy for us to be patience with other people. We want everything and everyone to move at the same speed and do things the same way we do. It can be so easy for us to say that another person is holding up the line or that it is their fault that the project was not done on time. Most of us don’t want to follow the advice given in James 1:19 (“Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry”). Note that James specifically uses the word “all”. No one is exempt from this behavior, and it is expected of all of us. When we are impatient, we tend to be slow to listen to anyone else, quick to speak, and quick to become angry and impatient. It is so easy to do because we are all selfish at heart. In our heart of hearts we are full of selfish desires and motives, and when someone of something gets in the way of that we tend to respond in a negative way. We need to train ourselves in patience, because it takes work to go against our natural desires. “Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace” (Ephesians 4:3). If we set our hearts on Christ and learn from his example of patience, we can grow in this area of our lives
It is also not easy for us to be patient with God. We want what we want from him, and we want it right now! We tend to think that when we ask for something from God and he doesn’t grant it right away, that he does not care or is taking too long. “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people tend to think. No, he is being patient for your sake...” (2 Peter 3:9). We need to trust that God does everything in his perfect timing. We need to be patient and wait for the lord to work out all that he has planned for our lives. “Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act...” (Psalms 37:7). God’s answer to our prayers can be yes, no, or not yet. In the waiting we need to have full faith and trust that God is working everything out for our good and his glory.
Are you struggling with patience with the people around you? Are you struggling with waiting on God for something in your life? Try to practice patience with those around you. Pray to the Lord and ask him to give you the wisdom and strength to be patient with other and with him, as he works our everything in your life.
“Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowances for each other’s faults because of your love” (Ephesians 4:2)
“Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord” (Psalms 27:14)
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