I was reflecting this past week on patience. A sermon series I have been listening to talked about how people wish for more patience. We often hear people say, “I wish I was more patient.” Or people give unsolicited advice, “You just need to be patient.” Lastly, people often pray for more patience. Let’s dive a little deeper into what patience means. I believe I had mentioned this in another post; the term patient means one who suffers. The English word is derived from the Latin word patior, which means bearing, suffering, enduring, or permitting. Another resource says it is likened to capable of enduring misfortune without complaint. That’s a tall order!
When we ask for patience or say someone needs more patience, we are welcoming the endurance of suffering. From James, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” (James 1:2-3) Some translations swap perseverance for patience. Regardless, we are persevering through the struggle, enduring the suffering; we are being patient. In asking for patience, we are seeking spiritual growth. We need faith for this because we know that God is on our side, giving us the strength and grace to BE patient. We are suffering to gain a stronger relationship with ourselves and with God through greater understanding.
All of us have suffered to some extent because we have all grown. We were once younger, less wise, less strong (physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually). Yet through life experiences, positive and negative, we have grown. We have learned, adapted, and evolved. We are not, nor will we ever be the person we once were. Some, if not most of this was attained through suffering. We had to be patient to get where we are, to achieve the things today that we enjoy. It has been said that nothing worth doing is easy. Again, all of us can think of a time when we did something that was difficult and we didn’t enjoy in the moment but now look back with the knowledge and understanding that it was worth it because of what we got in return for being patient.
So this week, I challenge us to be patient in the difficulties of the day and the week. It can be small or seemingly insurmountable. We all have our challenges. But remember, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. God is always with you. Like Paul, God’s grace is sufficient for us, because His power is in our weakness and our shortcomings. (2 Corinthians 12:9) We can’t do this on our own and we don’t need to. God’s got us.
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