Do you have Patience?
Do you have patience? We are back in the “fruit of the Spirit”, we have talked about joy, peace, and now let's talk about patience. Some translations of Galatians 5:22-23 on the “fruit of the Spirit” use the words forbearance, or longsuffering instead of patience, but I prefer patience, as it is what I use in my speech on a regular basis. I am not sure I have ever used longsuffering or forbearance. 😊
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Let’s focus on our patience in reference to our faith in God. Are we able to wait on God? Have we ever prayed to God for a answer then we get impatient because He hasn’t given us a answer that fits our timetable?
I have to admit that I have, and it comes down to me not “walking in the Spirit”. I obviously was worrying about the outcome, I started questioning God, internally grumbling about having to wait, and getting a little frustrated. Then I end of making a decision on my own timetable instead of waiting on God’s timetable. Well, I just threw my joy, my peace, my patience, my kindness, my goodness, my faithfulness, my gentleness, my self-control right out the window. If I am not “walking in the Spirit” I am gratifying the desires of the flesh. Then to make matters worse, most times I end up making a bad decision. I think this is probably a familiar example of what happens when we don’t wait on the Lord. Has this ever happened to you?
Here is why it is so important to be “walking in the Spirit” and allowing Christ “fruit of the Spirit” to be exhibited in our lives, specifically patience. First off, God’s timing is perfect, and my time is not perfect, so we need to be careful of trying to get ahead of God. This is tough to do but wait on the Lord’s timing as this will save us a lot of heartaches. Do we trust God? If we trust God with our salvation lets trust Him in waiting for His timing.
Psalms 37:7
7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
It will take courage to wait on God when you might not understand why the wait. In Psalm 25:3 “None of those who wait for You will be ashamed.” If we obey God, we will not be ashamed because He works in our lives as we follow Jesus and depend on Him rather than jumping ahead. Why wouldn’t we trust and wait on The Sovereign Lord that orchestrates all the events of our lives.
Proverbs 3:5-6Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
Psalm 62:5 My soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him.
