Galatians chapter 5 : 22
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance (Patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
This verse brings about 9 aspects of the character of Christ. It is 9 different flavours . When we look at a diamond , there are different angles / views which we look at, and each angle looks unique and has a beauty in it.
One of the fruit is a virtue of Patience . When I speak about this , I speak to myself as well.
One of the biggest struggle which we have in the modern world is impatience . Patience is very difficult to develop when we live in the world, where everything is instant, instant food (Swiggy, Zomato), Instant Money Transfer (IMPS), Instant Messaging, Instant Chat, Instant Photo etc. Things are so quick, It becomes very difficult to develop patience . There is a Church in Florida, where they advertise an instant Church Service. Within 22 minutes you can be out of the Church. Every sermon is only 8 minutes long. People who go there, may be because they are impatient . Its like Mumbai traffic signals, when the light turns orange, instead of stopping we rush through. There is a poem which says, Patience is a virtue possess it if you can. Patience is a fruit, and is not something we already have , or something that we can earn from it but it is developed and cultivated. It is a fruit not a work. “It is the outcome of life in the Spirit”.
Patience is to endeavour and persevere long. When we say that you are a patient man , what we are saying is that, you can stand long , persevere long , bear the suffering. With all the pressures, you stand firm without cracking out. Coffman bible dictionary defines patience as this “An active endurance of opposition”. Biblical patience is when you face pressure but still don’t crack and stand firm. It is more than the ability to stand firm without frustration. Patience is waiting without worrying.
There are 3 important things about patience which we should know:
Why is biblical patience so important to us? How is it related to faith? Biblical patience is a key for divine promises. In our life we experience many delays and many disappointments.
Hebrews 6 :11-15
11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.”[d] 15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
There are 3 things we need to press onto God’s Promises
1. Diligence: We don’t want to be lazy but diligent.
2. Faith : We need to have faith in order to believe in God
3. Patience : We need to endeavour.
These 3 things are like 3 legs in a stool, if anyone of these legs are missing , a stool cannot stand. Anyone of the above are missing then we are gone.
1. Patience is a key for divine promises
The writer talks about the story of Abraham and Sarah . The Lord promised Abraham ,” I will surely bless you.” Not only God promised , he swore on him as well. It’s a Double guarantee . In verse 15 , the writer puts it this way, “he waited patiently” . It was not easy for Abraham and Sarah , we all are aware of the story. Verse 13 and 14 looks good, but there was a long waiting period before we arrive in verse 15. God promised that they will have a child, Yes in Genesis 12, and they were not willing to wait , for them God was very slow. Instead of holding on to their Hope and promises, they took matters in their own hands. They did their own thing. In Genesis 16 , Sarah said to Abraham , we have to do something , why don’t you go and sleep with the maid servant (Hagar) , lets have a child and from there came Ishmael from whose lines the Islamic nation came into existence. If Abraham waited for another 14 years , Isaac may have arrived and out of his lineage came the Jewish. What did they lack? Patience !
From the time of God’s promise ,till the time of fulfilment , we need to have patience. The result of the fleshly effort resulted in great frustration for Sarah . From the time Hagar conceived, she started ignoring Sarah. Sarah became more frustrated for her inability to conceive and her frustration was also projected towards Abraham. Now Abraham finds himself between 2 women. When we do not have the Patience to wait for Gods timing , We will end up in frustration. The area of frustration for us is an area where we don’t trust God. Are we frustrated financially , Relationally , morally , emotionally ?. We have to entrust those areas to God. Sometimes when we take matters in our own hands, it can produce weak results. Ishmael was born to Abraham but it led to frustration. After all this, Abraham learnt patience , in verse 15 ] “15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised”. Sometimes inspite of knowing all this we end up not waiting in God. Between the time of sowing and until we see the harvest, is the period of waiting. This period is like the Trial of faith , Faith being tested. God seems slow but he is never late, he works on a different calendar.
Hebrews 10:35-37
35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For,
“In just a little while,
he who is coming will come
and will not delay.”[f]
Faith does not begin at the point when the person is healed . Faith begins at a point when you are willing to pray.
Our Job is to pray , God’s job is to respond.
Don’t throw away your confidence. Let God decide what he wants to do. Our Job is to be patient and wait on him prayerfully.
2. Patience is the prize to develop potential
Everybody has a potential but it needs to be developed through patience.
When we go to a restaurant, it is waiting from the beginning i.e. from the time we enter the restaurant till the time we pay the bill.
If we want something good, we just have to wait .We may have got few responsibilities be faithful in them , in due time God will exalt us.
Galatians 6:9
9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Naaman , nearly missed his healing as he was impatient with the man of God (Elisha). Moses, missed the promise land as he became impatient with the Israelites . King Saul , he took the priestly robe and sacrificed on behalf of Samuel, why ? Impatience, because Samuel did not arrive on time. As a result King Saul lost his kingdom.
Patience brings breakthrough .
MacDonald took 22 years to make their first billion, IBM took 46 years . But after that they never stopped.
Be faithful to do what God has placed in your hands in 2019. We will reap the harvest in due time.
3. Patience is a bridge to difficult people :
1 Thessalonians 5:14
14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.
These three types of people will test our patience , Lazy , Timid and weak . They really test the patience.
Exalt all the different types of people, encourage them, Be patient with them.
The more we walk in the spirit , the more patient we will become.
Colossians 3: 12
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
How do we develop patience? Through Christ. We put on Christ. On the Cross Jesus patiently endured everything.
Ephesians 4 :1-2
4 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Be patient , God will reward and answer in his Time.
Courtesy: Benny Ho, Series on Faith, Hope and Patience.
Virjil Selvan is Pastoring the New Hope Community.
The New Hope Community is situated in the heart of the city between Old and New Panvel. We can confidently share that New Hope Community is a Church in Kamothe, Church in Khandeshwar, Church in Khanda Colony, Church in Panvel, Church in New Panvel because we are centrally located and these places surround our church Venue
0 Comment