Developing Patience – Patience is Wisdom
Patience Can Be Frustrating At Times!
When we have to wait for something longer than we want to, most of us get frustrated and upset because it doesn’t happen in our timeframe. As we know, God’s timing is very different than ours. The real rub occurs because as we wait, we are also developing patience—making our period of waiting seem far longer and drawn out than we would like.
Don’t Go Around That Mountain Again
In today’s “microwave society,” we want everything yesterday, and sometimes, we are not prepared to wait. The unintended biproduct of our impatience is that we often accept second best! Patience and learning to wait is a part of spiritual training. Ironically, it is in the very act of waiting and becoming patient that we begin to gain the confidence that we will have the best outcome and the fulfillment of what we have been looking for. There is a real danger not having the right attitude about waiting. If we don’t learn how to grow through patience, then we can end up going around that same mountain over and over, until we learn what we need to learn.
Our Impatience Won’t Speed Things Up
Look at it this way; emotions can be like a horse running wild all over the place. They need to be reined in. Hebrews 10:36 NLT says “Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.” Our impatience can make us and everybody around us feel frantic, unsettled, and in the worse cases, just plain miserable. Our panic won’t rush God to speed up the outcome. He works according to His own plan and timetable: It’s “in due season we shall reap” (Galatians 6:9). The “due season” is God’s season, not ours. A lot of the time we’re in a hurry to get the job done to move onto the next thing. However, He isn’t. He takes time to do things right.
God is Always On Time
The truth is that we may not know what He’s always thinking or doing, but He certainly does. He’s never late or early. He’s always right on time! He takes every opportunity to develop in us the fruit of patience. Other fruits are being developed in us also (Galatians 5:22).
Our Character Determines Our Destiny
There are several things that are happening simultaneously while we are growing in patience: our characters and potential are being developed as well. However, developed potential without a strong character doesn’t tend to bare up under pressure, and it definitely does not glorify God. If we were to be raised up too early in our gifts and callings, and become a great success without having our character developed at the same time to uphold the success, then we would become arrogant and harsh towards others. That wouldn’t be good at all. When we get ahead of ourselves in one area, He will gently, but firmly, block our progress until our character and patience catch up. We normally don’t appreciate any of this while it’s happening, but later we realize what a mess we would have made of things if we had met success on our timetable instead of God’s.
Trials Develop Patience
So, the question becomes this: how is patience developed in our lives? Well most often, it is during the time we spend waiting as we experience trials and tribulation! (Romans 5:3). For example, if we become sick and we don’t see our healing instantly, or when our finances seem to be in reverse gear, or when our integrity and honesty seems to go unnoticed, when our hard work and tenacity seems to go unrewarded, or even when our kindness and love is refused or returned without thanks, that’s when our patience grows and has to shine in all its beauty. Paul writes in this verse, ‘Tribulation worketh patience.’
Keep Training
You’ve seen this same principle at work in fitness training. The under worked muscles are weak, but trained and developed muscles become strong under loading and endurance. The same principle applies to the Christian life when we realize that each storm brings its trials, but after the storm, patience produces blessings and rewards.
Let’s look at three wonderful outcomes of patience:
1) Patience brings hope: “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4 NKJV).
2) Patience produces good fruit: “And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest” (Luke 8:15 NLT).
3) Through patience you receive what God has promised: “He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform” (Romans 4:20-21 NKJV).