Patience, a fruit of Holy Spirit
Luke 8:15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.
1 Timothy 6:11,12 But you, oh man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold of eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
James 1:2-4 …count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. but let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
For those of you who have read my blogs very often, you’ve probably seen I have an issue with impatience. Mine, not usually someone else’s as long as the situation does not diffuse into anger. But I was born with no patience. And of course, as I delve further into the word, I realize that patience and long suffering come as we follow God and learn to develop patience by trusting Him, His word, and His promises for our life. Patience is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, so it does eventually come if we learn about it, study it, and strive to be more Christ-like and seek it.
It will still flit across my head that maybe what I am waiting for will NEVER come, (maybe not His will for me), but when those thoughts hit, I try hard to oust them.
I know Satan loves to lie, deceive and taunt us that prayers aren’t going to be answered—because we are not good enough, we are not worthy, that he, Satan can give us all our wishes and dreams….and his lies continue.
But I have learned over the years to thwart those lies, to remind myself I am waiting on God’s timing to deliver, and to verbally say my special verses on WAIT….PATIENCE…. Within a couple of moments that impatience fades, and I snuggle back, reminding myself my life is good even without all my heart’s desire, and send up a Thank You and an apology for letting those impatient feelings project even for a moment.
I’m going to share a poem I found, signed by Anonymous. I found it on an inexpensive plaque many years ago, and had it hanging in my home for a while. But it says so much to my impatience.
As children bring their broken toys with tears for us to mend,
I brought my broken dreams to God, because He was my friend.
But, then, instead of leaving Him in peace to work alone,
I hung around and tried to help, with ways that were my own.
At last I snatched them back and cried, “How can you be so slow?”
“My child,” He said, “What could I do? You never did let go.”
That was so me. Impatiently, I would try to maneuver things to come out my way, in my time. And ALWAYS those things did not work out for my benefit. Obviously, I don’t know how they would have worked had I sat back and trusted, but I am sure they would have been much better if I waited on Him.
Over the years, I have learned patience in my life and for “mybellaviews.”
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