Good morning: The old saying goes, “Patience is a virtue.” That may be true, but it seems like a dying virtue. Test yourself. How patient are you? Are you content to wait two hours for dinner to bake in the oven or does 30 seconds in the microwave feel like a week? When the car ahead of you on the freeway is going a little slower than you are, do you back off on your speed, or do you mutter in frustration, immediately veer into the left lane and get by as quickly as you can? When someone hurts you a second or third time by what they say or do, are you glad to forgive? We excuse our impatience as “just the way I am,” or we justify it by blaming the other person. But it really comes down to a lack of love. Paul wrote the Ephesian believers, “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love” (Eph. 4:3). Impatience toward someone says that I matter more than you do. My time is more valuable than yours. How often aren’t we even impatient toward God? In the wilderness the Israelites wanted water and they wanted it NOW. Sound familiar? Have you prayed for relief from a trial, an answer to a problem, or a material blessing, and then were disappointed or maybe even a little angry when the Lord didn’t immediately do what you asked? How amazing then that God is incredibly patient with us! “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love...He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities” (Ps. 103:8, 10). When you find impatience taking hold, go to the Lord of patient forgiveness. Pray for His mercy and see it in Jesus’ suffering and death for you. Let the peace of God work Christian patience in your heart and life today. Others will notice. Let them see Jesus in you. Patience is a virtue—a gift of the Spirit to cherish! Yours in Christ, Pastor Summer schedule tomorrow: one service at 9 a.m.
