Patience

James 1:2-4 "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing."

These verses are saying that trials and trouble in our lives give us an opportunity for growth. But that's only if we respond in the right way. It doesn't help us if we go through life with a bad attitude because we can't always have what we want when we want it. And it's not like everything hard we go through is necessarily God trying to help us get greater character. But we certainly can learn to grow in difficult times if we have the right perspective. And there will be times when it is God trying to teach us something. The point is, we can live more fulfilled lives when we learn how to be patient and content.

Romans 8:25 "if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."

You really can't have one without the other. Hope won't get fed up with patiently waiting, and patience won't stop believing that, in time, what you are hoping for will happen, or maybe something better that God has in store. It's not patience if we say that we'll wait for God to do something, but then get scared and doubt Him because it's not happening when we think it needs to. People often talk about God's timing, and how He has it under control, and will do what He needs to in His own perfect time. But, when it comes down to it, it's really easy to become frustrated and stop trusting because God doesn't seem to be working fast enough.

Romans 5:3-4 "We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope"

According to this passage, suffering can help us develop endurance, or patience, which will in turn strengthen our character, producing hope. The reason it talks about hope is because normally we hope for the seemingly impossible, or at least the highly unlikely. Without patience, you can't hope because you'll just give up, completely tired of waiting for what seems like will never happen.

Colossians 1:11, 12 "May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light."

A lot of these verses dealing with patience mention joy or rejoicing. There's definitely a connection between patience and joy. You can't really endure something with a good attitude if you're lacking God's joy. A joy that can keep you going even when your circumstances are weighing you down. It also talks about giving thanks to God. And that's not an easy thing to be thankful even while you're going through something difficult. But it is possible to find ways to be thankful despite your circumstances.

2 Timothy 4:2 "preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching."

When we're sharing with others about God, we have to be careful to not push them to make a decision when they may not be ready. It can take a lot of patience to keep from getting frustrated when we see the truth that can set a person free, and yet they still are holding back. ...The verse also says to be ready. We should be prepared for any opportunity we have to talk with others about God. You never know when God will open a door for you to share Christ with someone, so even though you may have been praying for them a long time, you need to stay prepared. Because patience doesn't just sit back and do nothing. It waits as long as it needs to, and keeps hanging onto hope, refusing to give up when circumstances are still not improving. True patience won't ever give up.

Ephesians 4:1-3 "I... urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

Patience is closely tied with love. It takes love to be patient with other people. It's something that we really can't do through our own strength. But genuine patience can happen when you love others like Jesus does. You can then put up with a person's flaws because you've chosen to love them unconditionally.

1 Timothy 1:15, 16 "The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life."

A lot of things in the Christian's walk come down to this. Jesus doing the impossible through us. It is His patience, and His alone that we truly need. And we can possess it if we'll let go of our will and start walking in Jesus' footsteps.


JPK