“O Lord, please give me patience.
And give it to me right now!”
This would be funnier if I hadn’t actually done that.
Patience is a fruit of the Spirit. As we grow as Christians, we grow in “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).
So … being impatient about not being patient is being impatient about not being mature.
We are born into the Christian life as babies. God then works throughout our lifetime to mature us. He works in us to want to do His will and He works in us to actually do His will (Philippians 2:13).
It’s a process. And not all of it is fun.
Impatience is a sign of immaturity. It goes along with irritation, grumbling, and self-pity. At the core, impatience is impatience with God. (And that is not good!)
When we’re impatient, we’re saying to God: “I don’t like Your schedule! Step on it!”
Or: “I don’t like where You put me. Put me over there, NOW!”
Looking further underneath, impatience is:
Believing we know better than God;
Not believing He is in control;
Not believing He loves us;
Wanting our own way and not His, which is rebellion.
And I started out thinking impatience was not this awful.
Here are the steps I am going to take:
I am going to work at recognizing, as quickly as possible, when I am impatient.
I am going to remind myself that He is in control over the situation and its timing. Whatever is making us impatient is part of His plan for us in our growth and in our service to Him.
I am going to remind myself that He loves me.
I am going to remind myself that He is working to make me into the image of His Son.
I am going to remind myself that I am His servant, that I owe Him my life.
Lord, I want to learn to be patient. Please help.
P.S. And then I went to the grocery store … it was packed. I was in a hurry. I did – finally – think of the steps I determined to take when I became impatient. Finally! I am still learning!
