Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. (James 5:7 ESV)
The Fruit of the Spirit: Patience
Impatience and worry have a lot in common.
Both are clearly prohibited in Scripture. And yet not only are we Christians worriers, and impatient… but we seem to justify our worry and impatience as if those attitudes were righteous.
We worry, we say, because we care so much. We are impatient, we say, because we desire such good things, and those good things would best be found now.
More than that, our impatience particularly comes from a lack of understanding that God is doing amazing fantastic things. We are skeptical, though. We are doubters, though. We are blind, though. We are impatient, therefore.
But the good news is, we can be patient.
Christians often list impatience as one of the common sins that everyone has, that we have had for years, that doesn’t really hurt anyone.
But patience is a gift from God. We receive it by knowing God’s Word, so we can understand what is really going on. We receive it by praying more honestly, submitting to Christ’s reign.
But it is not our efforts that gain patience. The Spirit gives it to us, changes us slowly, daily, hourly into patient Christians. Patience does not come through five steps… it comes through trusting that God gives us that gift.
We just need to be patient. Because we are Christians, we have patience. It might be buried for now. It might be hidden for now. It might be mistrusted for now, because we have convinced ourselves we are NOT patient.
But patience is a fruit.