The Power of Patience…why it’s worth praying for!

Patience…we all know we
need it and we all want it NOW.  We all
know what it’s like to be impatient. 
Picture it:

• The person hugging the left lane on the
  Interstate going ten miles below the speed limit.
• The person driving 35 in a 45 mph zone.
• The line at the store moving just WAY
  too slow.
• The coworker that just takes a little longer to
  understand a simple task.
• Waiting on God to tell you exactly what He
  wants you to do.
• A situation that you’ve left in God’s hands and
  now you are worrying to death about it wondering when God is going to do “His
  thing”.

Sound familiar?

Patience is one of those
things that I’ve always been told “don’t pray for it unless you mean it”.  God will answer that prayer by making you
wait for the answer!  Frustrating isn’t
it?

Proverbs 16:32 Better a patient
man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.

Proverbs 19:11 A man’s wisdom
gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.

“But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control.
Against such things there is no law”
(Galatians 5:22-23)

Let’s look at the power of
patience

First, let’s
review our text:

²²But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness
and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

“Fruit” in this usage is “that which originates or comes from something, an
effect, result.”  So the verse could be translated “But the result of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

The use of
“fruit” means it originates with God, not us. 
Fruit grows from the root; It would be “works” if it were up to us.

All of these
traits listed are the fruit.  They are
ALL needed.  This is not a multiple-choice
list.  But let’s look through these,
starting with patience.

What is patience?

The Greek word translated “patience” means “forbearance,
longsuffering,” or “slowness in avenging wrongs.”  So
the Greek word for patience means, literally, the ability to suffer for a long
period of time or as older translations put it “long-suffering”

The English word “patience”
means “the capacity, quality, or
fact of being able to bear or endure pain, difficulty, provocation, or
annoyance with calmness.”

But sometimes, we find
ourselves saying, “the trouble is that I’m in a hurry, but God
isn’t!”

How do I get patience?

Time

We get used to sitcoms on
television and mistakenly box our Christian life into that mindset: no matter
what the problem, it will be solved and everyone will be happy in twenty
minutes.  At most it will take 40
minutes.  It doesn’t work that way, does
it?

Some of the greatest
missionaries had to patiently wait
for the harvest of lost souls.

• William Carey, for example, labored seven
  years before the first Hindu convert was brought to Christ in Burma
• Adoniram Judson toiled  seven years before his faithful
  preaching was rewarded
• In western Africa, it was fourteen years
  before one convert was received into the Christian church
• In New Zealand, it took nine years
• in Tahiti, it was sixteen years before the
  first harvest of souls began

So dear one in Christ, don’t
be surprised when God seems to “take His time.”

Faith

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the
LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope
and a future.

God knows
the plans He has.  It’s not a
mystery.  He knows what’s going on in
your life.  He’s aware of it and He
cares.  What are His plans?   To bless you! 
To use you!  To give you a
continual purpose!  These plans are your
greatest good and His greatest glory!

Exercise

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of
witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily
entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

You get
patience by running and enduring the race! 
Our lives in Christ are NOT a sprint but a marathon.  That’s why it takes patience, right?

So what is the Power of
Patience?  Peace.  True peace when the world is going crazy.  Peace no matter what happens.  This is the power of patience.  This is why it’s actually worth praying for!

So loved by the Lord: