A Heart of Patience

Patience is an attitude of the heart. Patience involves a sincere tolerance and acceptance of others and or circumstances.

Patience is not just about simply waiting for something, but how you handle and endure situations with other people, and even with yourself.  For some, the biggest area where they need to exercise patience, is with themselves.

When you exercise patience, you make a concerted effort not to get irritated with others, with the situation, or with yourself.

Think about the busiest queue you have ever waited in. Not only did you have to exercise patience in the waiting but also with the teller at the end, or with the people doing the road block, or whoever was involved in the scenario.

When you patiently endure, not only do you bless God by bearing good fruit, but you also help to show your care for others around you.

Joseph had to exercise considerable patience when he was jailed for a crime he never did. God used this season in his life for His glory, but Joseph had to choose to participate, in bearing good fruit.

Job is well known for his patience in the Bible. Not only did he nearly lose all his possessions, he faced a multitude of privations; yet he patiently endured to the end.

God shows the remarkable power of His patience in the desert towards the Israelites who were in the wilderness for forty years; a journey that could have taken a mere eleven days.

This same love and patience that God had towards the Israelites, is what He has towards every person when it comes to receiving Jesus as Lord. God wants all to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4). He patiently waits for every person to accept Jesus as his or her Saviour; so that he or she can be spared from hell one day, and spend eternity in the safety of His presence in Heaven.

Verse:

“The Lord does not delay [as though He were unable to act] and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is [extraordinarily] patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9 Amplified.

Practical action step: 

Do a brief self-assessment with the Holy Spirit, and jot down the areas where you have personally had victory in displaying patience.

Then jot down the areas (situations, or even with certain people) where you are struggling to exercise patience.

Repent of it, and ask God to give you a new strategy to overcome. You can also ask someone you trust to pray with you into this area for encouragement and strategy.