eMessage
Faith-filled Patience
James 5:7 “Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains..”
In considering the fruit of the Spirit we come to the component of that fruit identified as patience. What is
Patience? Consistent with the other components of this spiritual fruit to which we are called, it is that which we are to experience and others are to see in our lives and which comes by walking faithfully with Christ. Well, that’s the church meaning, anyway. The real meaning in my life on a good day is the ability to have a quiet and steady perseverance no matter how slowly things happen, while on a bad day it is the ability to suppress my restless nature and my annoyance when things do not happen quickly enough. The truth is that I get annoyed quickly when what I want is not done quickly. “Quickly” is defined on my time table, i.e. when I want it done.
But patience for believers has a deeper reality. When I look deeper into why patience exists or does not exist in my life, I find that so often it reflects my faith (or lack of faith) in God’s ability to get things done as well as His desire to get things done. Stated another way, the amount of patience in my life is so often a direct reflection of my faith in God as well as my understanding of His desires.
Let me illustrate it this way. If God told me that He would answer a specific prayer request of mine on a certain day in a certain month of this year, would I care if He answered the request at 6:00 in the morning or at 6:00 in the evening? No I would wait without frustration or annoyance until He moved to answer the prayer as He promised. Generally speaking the assurance that He is going to answer would bring patience to my life allowing me to pass 6:00 am on that day without worry knowing that God was going to answer sometime that day.
Let’s expand the illustration to assume that God told me He was going to get certain things done, things about which I cared deeply. Would I really care if He got them done next week or next year? In some cases, I would have a preference but ultimately I would leave it all to God and simply be ready to do my part in God’s plan.
God has never told me that He is going to answer one of my prayers of great concern on a certain date. Yet His assurances to a faith filled life of answering our prayers and accomplishing all things, according to His Will, bring the ability to wait on His timing and plans. The key is that I must have faith in God as well as an understanding that God cares more about things than I do.
There are three things about His nature which have brought greater patience into my life as compared to the times in my life before I learned these things about God. These three things have given me the ability to wait upon God and to calm in His plans and timing.
The first thing I learned about God which gave me greater patience is that God is truly in control. There is nothing which catches God by surprise. Unlike my own life which is filled with last minute surprises and carefully laid plans that are constantly in need of revision, there is nothing which catches God off guard. He never says, “Well, I didn’t see that one coming.” Nothing is beyond His ability. My impatience does not bring anything new to God’s attention-He already knows everything. He already has a plan for everything. Moreover, God sees everything from an eternal perspective and His plans are so superior to our own.
Secondly, I learned that the eternally valued things about which I care and about which I often become impatient, He cares about more than I do. For example, as much as I care about the salvation of my family, He cares about it more. My impatience did not help either the lost or God in any way or in any fashion. Please note being impatient for the lost is not the same as leaving the lost to their own devices at a time when God calls us clearly to share as we have opportunity. In fact my impatience to “bring the lost to the saving knowledge of Jesus” is often accompanied by poorly planned action and leads to frustration on the part of those with whom I share the gospel. I have found that God is more successful in reaching the lost through me when I am patient. The same analysis is applicable to my concern for loved ones who are sick or who are suffering great tragedy or etc. God works more effectively through us when we wait on His timing.
Often my impatience has to do with the urgent prayers that I raise to God. I often want to say to God, “God I am praying and I don’t see anything happening-that must mean you are not listening.” This leads to the third truth with which I had to wrestle. I learned that every prayer of the believer, even urgent prayers, is answered. God never ignores the prayers of His children. We may not get the answer we want nor get an answer in the time frame we want, but God is always going to answer us.
Someone has rightly said that God’s answer to our prayers will often be one of three answers, “Yes”, “No”, or “Wait”. Often we want to rush God. God has often had to say to me “Slow down Earl, I have this under control, be patient”. Yet, I want to say to God in further response, “But God, I don’t see anything happening.” By faith I have heard God gently reply, “But I do.”
Ultimately, patience is waiting on God’s timing. James, the New Testament writer used the common experience of the farmer waiting for the planted and desired harvest come in after a season of waiting occurs. I need to learn to wait for God’s season to arrive as it regards the things about which I so easily become impatient. Patience is having the faith to live out the truth that God is in charge, God cares more about eternal things than I do and lastly it is living out the truth that God answers every prayer.
Patience is faith-filled. The real question is do I trust God enough to wait on His timing?
eMullins
