The Gifts of Patience.......

For most of my life, I've been a very impatient person. My impatience wasn't manifested in being rude or abrupt with others, but more so in being anxious and a perfectionist with myself. I remember being a child on Christmas Eve and letting the anticipation of a morning filled with presents cause me to be upset to my stomach and unable to sleep until the wee hours. It's just my nature to be this way.

Like most believers, I've asked God to give me patience. The old adage within the church is "be careful what you pray for, as God might actually give you it to you". To exercise patience, one must have an application or situation in which to do so. Well, I seem to have been given my fair share of them. Sometimes I would truly rest in God's grace and provision, but in the end, I always ran to the line and picked up my anxiety and worry once again. I didn't like that about myself and my walk in Christ. I knew I needed to grow beyond that if God was going to do something in my ministry helping women. I have found that its the experience of failures and victories that God has used to help others in their own journey to the cross and growing more like Him.

In February 2007, I began to believe and trust God for a Christian husband. He would be the man my heart desired. I did as His Word instructs in Habakkuk and "wrote the vision on tablets". My tablet came from Staples. It was nonetheless my declaration of faith that God would surely bless me with this man if I delighted myself in Him and prayed to make sure it was His will for me. So, I prayed and fasted, asking God for permission to seek this in my life. I felt the release to pray for a husband and took a stand in faith that day. It was through this Godly man He chose for me that I have finally learned to be a patient be liver. In fact, it has been the process of our courtship that has required me to learn patience. It was not always pleasant, as dying to self never is. I had to exercise my new fruit of patience and trust God when fear would come upon me. It was through daily releasing everything in my life back to the Lord that I learned to rest and trust. Patience was the by product of that trust.

What are the gifts of having patience? Well, logically, the first and most obvious gift is that in the end, you get what you have waited for! Hebrew 12:1-3 says "run with patience the race set before us, looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith ... For consider Him that endured ... lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds." Patience lets us finish the race and collect the prize no matter what that prize is. In this case, Jesus is talking about the gift of eternal life through salvation.

For me, the most noticeable gift of patience has been the rest and peace I have found once I give up my need to hurry up the plan of God. In my search for patience, I have found the only true path to obtain this fruit of the Spirt the Word admonishes us to obtain, is to trust fully in Christ and relax knowing He is in control. It's the answer to impatience across the board. My fiancee, Ross, taught me what it means to exhibit and seek the rewards of remaining patient. He's the most patient human I have ever encountered. My emotional nature causes me to be more reactive. His more reserved, calm demeanor lends itself to abiding patiently. His strength in this area has helped me with my weakness.

The unsaved world is also given a gift from our patience by seeing the work of God in time. Seeing Christians have faith and wait in patient trust is evidence that we believe in the power of our Savior. That in itself should motivate Christians to trust patiently in the Lord more, as it would build a testimony to the faithfulness of God for them to witness. Patience rewarded then becomes one's testimony and as we know reading in Rev. 12: 11, the power of our testimony overcomes evil. This could even be seen as a form of spiritual warfare and a tool God will use to win others to Himself. It brings glory to God and brings hope that something outside of ourselves is truly at work on our behalf. It speaks to the great love God has for us and how available it is to ordinary folks who will dare to trust Him with their lives.

Believers are to seek the fruits of the Spirit of God. They are to be characteristics we endeavor to achieve in our Christian life. Patience is something I wish I had learned earlier in my life, but am grateful God chose to teach me through my courtship in my journey to marriage. You don't have to wait for your Christian Prince Charming to teach you though, no matter if it was wonderful to realize that the man God had chosen for me was very capable of being the spiritual head of our household and encouraging me to grow in Christ. Don't wait to seek the fruits of the Spirit. Set it as a goal today, so that you might begin to enjoy their rewards in your daily life! Embrace the beauty of patience in your life. I'm glad I did.

Living The Treasured Life,
Karen