The Pursuit of Patience
In Galatians 5:22-23, the apostle Paul lists patience as one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. In my own life, I have found that pursuing this particular fruit can often feel elusive. Pursuing patience can even feel counterproductive, unrewarding and even hard. “What’s the point?” we might ask.
However, if one asks a similar question about impatience, the alternative to patience, with what are we left? Certainly, many times impatience gets us what we want when we want it, but is that all? Usually, other undesirable things accompany our indulgence of impatience — regret, frustration, anger, irritation, guilt, strained relationships and stress just to name a few. Speaking from experience, I have never gotten a speeding ticket when I practiced patience! In other words, although we may get what we want when we want it, does impatience pay off? Does impatience shape us into the kind of people that God desires us to be?
Consider some notable Bible characters: Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 years old when God blessed them with Isaac (Genesis 21:1-6). Noah and his family waited 372 days in the ark for the flood to subside (Genesis 7:11). The Israelites waited 400 years to be rescued from slavery in Egypt (Genesis 15:13). After the prophet Samuel anointed David as king, David still waited 15 years to become king (II Samuel 5:4-5). And all of them were commended for waiting in patience! Likewise, the stories of impatience — the Israelites creating a golden calf idol to worship because they couldn’t wait for Moses to descend Mount Sinai (Exodus 32:1) or Saul offering unlawful sacrifices because he couldn’t wait any longer for Samuel the priest to perform them (I Samuel 13:8-11) — reveal the ultimate folly of indulging in impatience. In other words, in the long arc of life, impatience does not ultimately pay off. Whereas patience makes us more like the people Christ desires us to become. For even Jesus waited three days before being raised from the dead! And He is our example.
A Prayer
Almighty and everlasting God, who in your tender love towards the human race sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our flesh and to suffer death upon the cross: grant that we may follow the example of his patience and humility, and also be made partakers of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Collect for Palm Sunday, “Common Worship,” 2023)
