Psalm 37:1-17
Verse 7a Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him;
We continue looking at the fruit we should be bearing as God’s Spirit-filled children. So far we have looked at love, joy and peace. Today we will focus on patience.
Many of us are familiar with the prayer, “Lord, give me patience and could You please give it to me now!” Or we may have had others remind us not to pray for patience because trials will come to teach it to us. Patience is a tricky attribute. You can’t get it in a hurry or you have contradicted your whole point. So what exactly is patience?
Patience is an ability to accept the timing of things that aren’t going as fast as we would like. We have all experienced this, haven’t we? Maybe it was waiting to hear about some expected news or maybe you were expecting the birth of a child. No matter what you were waiting for there are two ways to wait – patiently or impatiently. We all know people who miss the mark on waiting patiently, likely we have very personal experiences with struggling with patience. So is waiting patiently even possible?
Patience can also be calmly dealing with something that annoys us. Again, this is something we all have a personal understanding of. We know firsthand that a tantrum throwing child in the supermarket or our own children asking why every few minutes can get on our nerves. And after the 10th time of almost tripping over the clingy pup at our feet it is so hard not to lose our patience. So why is it that these little things can push us to our limits of sanity and have our temper spilling over?
Patience doesn’t sound fun, does it? But what is the main reason for that? Could it be that it isn’t fun because it reveals areas that we struggle with worshiping self? In the first instance we are upset because we aren’t getting what we want, when we want it. In the second we are focusing more on our likes and dislikes instead of the other person. When we are struggling with patience it shows that we still are struggling with worshiping self and that means we aren’t giving all our worship to the One who deserves it. So why not slow down and wait patiently for His working things out for us? Maybe give the child a smile instead of a look of annoyance.
Making It Personal
What pushes your limits of patience? Are there ways that you try someone else’s patience? What is a way you could work on your level of patience?
Making It Personal Kids
What do you get impatient about? Do you ever test your parent’s patience? How patient is Jesus?
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for Your amazing patience with us. Guide us in learning how to be patient with You and with those around us. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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