I am glad that patience is listed as a fruit of the Spirit, because I need all the help I can get.
We wait – in lines: in order to purchase groceries; to be served at drive-through restaurants; to be attended to in a bank; at stop signs and traffic signals and road works; to see a play or film. We must also wait for flowers to grow and bloom; for winter to pass; for babies to be born; for wounds to heal; for bread to rise and cheese to age; for children to mature; for friends to call; for love to deepen. Statisticians have estimated that in a lifetime of 70 years, the average person spends at least three years waiting! It feels like more.
My first trip to the US (back in the 70’s) found me attending a course in Ohio – we discovered that within driving distance was an amusement park with the ‘longest, fastest, scariest ride’ (1973). On the Saturday a group of us hired a car, found our way to the park to ride this rollercoaster called “The Beast”. What I remember more than the 3 minute rollercoaster ride is the two and a half hours standing in a queue when all I could see was an endless line of denim jeans stretching ahead.
The Bible calls us to develop a fresh perspective. Patience begins by changing the way you look at something.
When I have a limited perspective, because all I am seeing is myself and how this situation I am facing is messing up my life, impatience is the result.
It is being fed by selfishness.
As a partner in marriage, as a parent, as an employer, or in business , we exponentially improve our probability of success by looking from the perspective of the other. There is probably no other step that has greater potential for reducing conflict in your life.
A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.
Prov. 19:11
When the writer of Proverbs uses the term “wisdom” he means the wisdom that comes from God and sees from God’s view.
It means that we realize a few things…
1) I’m human, I’m not God, I’m not perfect;
2) Nobody else is perfect either, so it shouldn’t surprise me or shatter my world when some people make mistakes or let me down;
3) God is in control, and he can use interruptions, irritations and situations to accomplish his purposes in and through me.
Babies are impatient; small children are impatient.
Maturity involves the ability to wait, to live with delayed gratification.
A person of understanding and wisdom, who sees life from God’s point of view, can make room for this fruit of the Spirit to grow. Just be patient.
Pastor Peter Thomas