“Patience is a virtue.”
“Yeah, one I don’t got.”
This conversation between my sister and I happened frequently, and I’m not sure I’ve ever mastered that particular virtue. PATIENCE - a word that our constantly moving world rarely likes to hear. WAITING for just about anything is not in our DNA.
But God says PATIENCE is a fruit we should be bearing. But WHY? Why do we have to do hard things? Why can’t it just be QUICK and EASY? *sigh* Because then how would we learn the value?
The longer we wait for something, one of two things happens. Either, we realize the thing we so desperately wanted isn’t what we need in that season of life. OR we get a much greater enjoyment from it with all the anticipation. On one hand, we grow into a more mature person as we come to find ourselves not wanting things of our youth but rather searching after God’s will for our life. And on the other side, we are blessed to extremes by God’s gifts as a reward for waiting on HIS timing.
Now, I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “Never pray for patience.” And in one sense, that is true. You will never see God work so fast to give you something to wait on. But with a closer look at the verses on the fruit of the Spirit, we see that patience isn’t something we need to ask for but rather something we already have. We just have to ACCESS it.
Yes, but HOW? With prayer and thanksgiving, God provides us ALL we need to get through ANY situation. He must be our STRENGTH in the wait. He never tasks us with anything we can’t accomplish, WITHOUT HIM. That being the KEY. We were never meant to do any of this on our own.
Still impatient? That’s okay. I am too. Living with the anxiety of waiting often has me making rash decisions that don’t help the situation. I have to remind myself every moment to CHOOSE patience. I repeatedly fail at times, but thankfully, God also grants us FORGIVENESS.
Whatever it is you’re waiting on - that phone call, a test result, an opportunity to make a difference, or just for your food to finally get delivered - remember that you have someone who was willing to wait FOREVER for You to turn to Him. You’ve got this.
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