Fruit of the Spirit; Patience – Part 5

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

“God give me patience and give it to me NOW!” Have you ever found yourself impatient with God asking Him in prayer to adhere to your timeframe? God does not answer to us and His timeframe is not ours. Through His inaction, God encourages us to develop patience. Patience is not passive. We don’t just wait for patience to fill us, we need to actively work on it “….and let us run with patience the race that is set before us…” (Heb 12:1). Runners practice constantly to improve their speed, their endurance, their wind and their form. The same is true of patience, we can’t just sit back and wait for God to fill us with that virtue. We are told in Colossians to grow “…in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience…”.

Jesus had a supernatural amount of patience in the Garden of Gethsemane because He knew what was going to happen the next day. That’s why He asked His Father to “…take this cup from me…” (Luke 22:42). He knew the pain and suffering He would bear, yet He patiently endured. Our pain and suffering will never be as much as Jesus’ yet God expects us to bear up so that through our suffering we would be like Jesus who through “…his faith was made complete by what he did”. (James 2:22). So continue to run the race that God has set before you knowing that it won’t always be easy and your patience will be tested. But in the end you will wear the winner’s crown of glory.

Prayer
Lord, there are days when my Patience is not what it should be, on those days and in those times, fill me with Your Spirit…and Your Patience. Amen