Have you ever been in that frustrating, impossible, hair-clawing, teeth-grinding, patience-trying position where all you can do is clench your teeth and half-scream, "Patience is a virtue"? Well, you're not alone. Pretty much every person on this earth has experienced a time when their patience has been tested and they were forced to recite that age-old proverb. Everybody struggles with patience. So this brings us to our next fruit in our spiritual fruit bowl - patience.
According to Dictionary.com, patience is defined as "quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence." That, in a nutshell, is what being patient is all about. Having a "quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence." Patience is drastically lacking in our society today. Someone cuts off someone in traffic. You can hear the horn honking and stream of obscenities half a dozen blocks away. Someone unknowingly steps in front of someone in the Christian book store lineup. Everyone else in the store turns their heads as an all-out brawl breaks out. Someone gets a trainee in the grocery store checkout line. Everyone else in the lineup watches grimly as that person shows their great lack of patience and, after blowing it, leaves the poor trainee in tears.
Our situation is dire. Culture has taught us that it's all about me. I'm number one and I should never even have to exercise patience, because the world should revolve around me. Me, me, I, I, me, I. Nope, no God in that equation. And that's the key to our problem. When we focus on ourselves, we have ten times more of a chance of losing our patience. But when we're focusing on God, we can't help but show a humble, gracious, patient spirit.
So when your head is about to blow and you've forgotten to do your morning devotions and you're about to scream the house down, stop, drop and pray. E.M. Bounds once said, "Faith, and hope, and patience and all the strong, beautiful, vital forces of piety are withered and dead in a prayerless life. The life of the individual believer, his personal salvation, and personal Christian graces have their being, bloom, and fruitage in prayer." It's all about prayer. Prayer is the key to a patient life. So let's bring our troubles, frustrations, and worries humbly to the throne of grace and lay them down. Let's train our focus on God, not on ourselves. And let's finally repent of our lack of patience and our abundance of selfishness and prepare to let the Spirit work in us and show His patience through us.
According to Dictionary.com, patience is defined as "quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence." That, in a nutshell, is what being patient is all about. Having a "quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence." Patience is drastically lacking in our society today. Someone cuts off someone in traffic. You can hear the horn honking and stream of obscenities half a dozen blocks away. Someone unknowingly steps in front of someone in the Christian book store lineup. Everyone else in the store turns their heads as an all-out brawl breaks out. Someone gets a trainee in the grocery store checkout line. Everyone else in the lineup watches grimly as that person shows their great lack of patience and, after blowing it, leaves the poor trainee in tears.
Our situation is dire. Culture has taught us that it's all about me. I'm number one and I should never even have to exercise patience, because the world should revolve around me. Me, me, I, I, me, I. Nope, no God in that equation. And that's the key to our problem. When we focus on ourselves, we have ten times more of a chance of losing our patience. But when we're focusing on God, we can't help but show a humble, gracious, patient spirit.
So when your head is about to blow and you've forgotten to do your morning devotions and you're about to scream the house down, stop, drop and pray. E.M. Bounds once said, "Faith, and hope, and patience and all the strong, beautiful, vital forces of piety are withered and dead in a prayerless life. The life of the individual believer, his personal salvation, and personal Christian graces have their being, bloom, and fruitage in prayer." It's all about prayer. Prayer is the key to a patient life. So let's bring our troubles, frustrations, and worries humbly to the throne of grace and lay them down. Let's train our focus on God, not on ourselves. And let's finally repent of our lack of patience and our abundance of selfishness and prepare to let the Spirit work in us and show His patience through us.