“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”
Galatians 5:22-23 NLT
This is probably the most difficult fruit to practice, at least it is for me. I have a hard time waiting, especially for the big things. Smaller things, like Christmas or birthday surprises are easier. But when it comes to the big events, like healing from my anxiety or when I was applying to dietetic internships and waiting on the job closer to home to open up, those times of waiting and hoping were very hard and trying.
I like the way dictionary.com defines patience. It says, “an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay”. Wow! How hard is it to not only wait, but to do so without grumbling or complaining? Almost impossible. I can get so impatient that I can try to take matters into my own hands. If I am being honest, what I’m really doing is losing faith in God in the process.
Looking back now, God was working in the waiting. I was just too impatient to notice. If he had just snapped his fingers and my anxiety was miraculously gone and I no longer had to commute anymore for work, I would have taken it for granted. I wouldn’t have learned different strategies to combat my negative thought patterns and I would not have been able to share about my experience with others and grow deeper relationships. One of my best friends now I believe happened because our struggles with anxiety are so similar.
A blog that I regularly follow, Hosanna Revival, posted a really good article on biblical patience entitled “When Cultivating the Spiritual Fruit of Patience Feels Unattainable”. In it, they offer up some tips for growing in patience with God. They advise to practice being patient in certain areas that are easier to do so. Some examples they give are regular breaks from social media so you don’t constantly have information at your fingertips. Another tip was to learn a skill that requires patience, such as making bread. I have never made bread before, but know it can be a long, time consuming process.
Ephesians 5:1 says, “Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.” If anyone exhibited patience it was Jesus when he came to earth to save us all from our sins. We’ve read about the people he came in contact with, even the ones he chose to follow him, and none of them were perfect and they surely tried Jesus’ patience on a daily basis. But Jesus knew the mission at hand and had faith in his Father that it would happen at just the right time. When we practice patience, we are learning to rely on others and not ourselves. Most importantly, we are learning to rely on God. He is the one that is in control of every situation. The gift of the Holy Spirit allows us to emulate the Spirit of God, if only we will let Him take the lead.
