The God Of Patience

Complete this sentence. I need to be more patient with __________________ .

We are in a hurry most of the time and we want instant results, instant noodles, instant coffee, fast food and we want them now! Waiting is out of the question. Maybe you have even prayed, “Lord give me patience, right now!” Patience is often hard to gain and to maintain, but God is called "the God of patience".

Paul wrote to the Galatians, “The fruit of the Spirit is . . . patience.” In the Greek is “makrothymia.” This is made up of the words “makro” meaning long, and “thymia” meaning anger. So literally it means LONG TO ANGER as opposed to “oxythymia” which means sudden anger.

A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly.

(Proverbs 14:29)

A patient person understands that he lives in an imperfect world, with imperfect people and in an imperfect situation but he has a perfect God. But a fool refuses to accept this! Having patience means that you will learn to accept setbacks and everyday problems without getting angry and making yourself and others miserable. 

When we are impatient with people or things, we hurt others. Impatience has destroyed more people than anything else. A lack of patience will make you unkind and irritable and not a very nice person to be around. It will make you unpleasant to work with, and it will serve to alienate your family. It will make you unhappy, as nothing will ever seem to go your way. 

Having patience is something that can be learned. It does not matter how old you are either, you can learn how to be patient regardless of your age. Patience can be your lifestyle. Once you become a patient person, you will enjoy life much, much more and you become more enjoyable too!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I praise You for being slow to anger and rich in love. I confess I get impatient when things don’t go accordingly to my plan or people don’t behave the way I want. I ask for Your forgiveness and help me be patient with others, as You have been with me. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen!