January 5, 2012
22:00
…Patience
I’ve had two conversations with as many people and in as many days that seem to have had the same central focus. Yesterday I had a rather long conversation with a close uncle of mine regarding theology and whatnot; today I had a conversation via text message with a good friend in which we discussed prayer amongst other things. But they both mysteriously ended up in the same place.
In the midst of the conversation with my uncle, we talked about spiritual gifts. Many spiritual gifts were mentioned, from the crazy, charismatic tongue speaking in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 to the more critically acclaimed teaching, serving, and benevolence mentioned throughout the rest of the Bible. We discussed the beliefs that some churches have had in the past which state that one is only a true believer if he or she speaks in tongues. Between the two of us, we decided that, instead, the mark of a true believer is one who bears the fruit of the spirit. At this point, as if he knew I was about to write about patience, he noted that “patience just isn’t one of those things we’re good at, is it?” Not wanting to spend time arguing, I agreed.
Earlier today, a friend from college texted me asking if I could pray for patience for her. I confessed to her that I didn’t exactly know what patience was, but I would pray anyway. She alluded to a thought that patience, for her, was nothing more than waiting on the Lord, and submitting to His will. Not wanting to spend time arguing, I agreed.
The reality is over the past week, I have been receiving a revelation in which I came to the conclusion that true, biblical patience is, indeed, just that: waiting. Waiting on the Lord, perhaps. But waiting, nonetheless. Before I came to the revelation that patience was little more than waiting, I had intentionally looked for ways in which patience was not merely the act of waiting. I thought, “Surely the synonymy between patience and waiting is artificial and incorrect, much like that between joy and happiness.” But alas, I really don’t think it is. I’ve come to see lately just how much patience and waiting actually are alike.
Perhaps the reason why it took me so long to get around to writing this post is because I sought wrong answers. I sought for reasons why patience is not what it actually is, thus I was looking for an incorrect truth to disprove the truthful truth. Are you following me? Maybe?
I guess what I mean to say is that I was looking merely for answers instead of looking to discover the truth. I was looking for something to prove what I believed to be true instead of looking for the actual truth. I don’t think I can word it any plainer than that.
Anyway… I don’t even know if I’m still on topic anymore. All I’m trying to say is that patience is, in essence, equivalent to waiting. I think when it is written “the fruit of the spirit is patience,” what it means is that one who lives by the Spirit is one who waits. One who lives by the Spirit is one who waits on the Lord, certainly. But more than that, I think to be patient is to not act impulsively. One who is patient is one who is calm, and who exercises self-control. I guess that means I’ll have to elaborate more on that as we get to the self-control post. But still, consider this proverb: “A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel.” (Proverbs 15:18 NIV). The ESV, instead of saying “a patient man” says “one who is slow to anger.”* I suppose that’s what I mean when I make a claim such as “one who is patient is one who is calm, and who exercises self-control.”
As I wrote in my last post, it is extremely important for followers of Christ to live out His calling for us both in the world and in private. We need to “let our lights shine before men” yet “go into our rooms, shut the door, and pray to our Father in secret.” And I think when we pray to God privately, we are supposed to wait on Him. Whenever Jesus rose “early in the morning, while it was still dark,” he appeared to do little more than receive direction from his Father. It was after returning from his prayers in the secret place that he decided he would move and preach in the next town, for example.
I know when I go through periods of time in which I don’t hear from the Lord, the reason is because I don’t make any effort to do so. In those periods of time, I don’t make it a priority to wait on the Lord and listen to Him. Instead, my prayers (if I pray) will be more of me saying “You should do this” or “Why…” or something similar, without me even giving Him a chance to answer me. I think that if we truly want to hear from God, we will keep two things in mind above any others. If we truly want to hear from God, we should remember that He won’t necessarily say what we want Him to say, and we won’t necessarily hear Him through means that we want to hear Him. Growing up in the church, most of us are taught from a young age that “God answers every prayer”, and that maybe the answer is “no” sometimes. But keeping in mind that He does, indeed, answer every prayer, we should note the ways in which He might answer.
Personally, I hear God speak to me directly more often than not. I don’t often hear an audible voice of His, rather I often receive something similar to a thought in my head. But occasionally, He’ll speak through someone else to tell me something. Just yesterday, in fact, my friend Jacob called me to tell me God loves me. That’s it. No spectacular God-wants-you-to-drop-everything-right-now-and-move-to-a-third-world-country or anything like that. Just “God loves you.” Somehow, it was an incredible thing to hear. It’s as if God was telling me He heard my prayers. I hadn’t even been praying to hear His love for me; nevertheless this word came to me as if to say God heard me anyway.
I think if I had my way, I would choose to hear God speak loudly and clearly to me through another person all the time. It’s easier to listen to things when they come from an audible voice, after all. But in reality, I have no power over the means in which God communicates. If I did, that would make me God. God is too great to be limited in any way, and He cannot be limited to one means of communication. We must be open to hear from God in whatever way He may speak.
But the first step is waiting. Sometimes God speaks to us in prayer, as such that we hear from Him immediately. Sometimes, we don’t hear from Him for days, months, or even years after. We must understand that God is greater than time, and that’s why the fruit of the Spirit is patience. Our concept of time is so unlike his. If we want to connect with the Father, we must learn to wait patiently for Him. As it is written in Isaiah 40:31, “those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.” And let us not forget the incredible testimony of King David, “I waited patiently upon the Lord, and He inclined and heard my cry.” (Psalm 40:1) I would like to note the word “patiently” that David mentioned. That implies time passed between David’s cry and God’s noticeable inclination.
I hope this made some sense. Those of you who know me personally surely know that my brain shuts down late at night, such as now (10:00? Wow!) but I think I’ve gotten my point across, at least somewhat. Just in case, here’s a recap:
- Patience is closely related if not synonymous to waiting
- We are called to spend time, perhaps daily, in prayer
- In prayer we should spend time listening for God, however we must be mindful that God speaks through His own means and in His own timing
*And on the “slow to anger note”, let us not forget that being slow to anger is one of God’s greatest qualities. All over the Bible, it is written that “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, rich and love, good to all generations, and just.” Maybe the fruit of the Spirit is patience because the Spirit continually exercises patience, and we are called to be like Him. That is assuming we are using “patience” and “slow to anger” to mean the same thing.
True to form, I have selected a song to accompany this post, as I have with every other post pertaining to the fruit of the Spirit. This particular song is the song which has been played more on my iTunes than any other song, and for good reason, too. This song is my constant prayer, and I hope you consider treating it as such as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qthv0L-NFo&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLE005896DE98838F4
