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“But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”  Romans 8:25 (ESV)

Vacation finally arrived – I’m sure you’ve probably felt the same. The sweet anticipation of a whole week away from work and our normal routine. We plan, we pack and we get up early anxious to hit the road and land at the beach. The Martin duo (me and my husband) actually made it out of the house in record time.  No major traffic delays – just smooth traveling. Reaching our destination, we pulled into the ice cream shop parking lot across the street from our rental and waited for the “okay your house is ready” text message.

Did I happen to mention waiting is not my fave thing when it involves vacation, beach and fun in the sun?  But that is exactly where we landed. We could see our rental house, we just couldn’t enter the driveway, unload our car and hit the beach. So we ate ice cream instead. And did I mention we constantly were checking our phones to make sure we didn’t miss that all important text message? Two and a half hours later it finally came and our wait was over.

While our wait was really inconsequential, at the moment it seemed to drag by. And the longer we waited, the more impatient we became simply because we were focused on what we couldn’t have when we wanted it. Keeping it real here, but when wait is involved our first reaction is not exactly joy in the wait but complaint.

Webster defines patience as bearing pains or trials calmly without complaint. Being steadfast despite opposition. In the Greek, patience has a twofold meaning:  calmness of spirit and remaining firm under tests and trials.

How can we achieve this rhythm when we are accustomed to fast, instant gratification? Relying on ourselves, we will certainly fail. In our imperfect world, the temptation will be to give in, resist and exhibit our frustration as we zero in on what we don’t have right now. But if we rely on God’s Spirit which dwells within us, we can endure the wait without compromise. If we step back and view wait through His perspective then we will learn to welcome the very thing we don’t want.

Best example ever is the patience of our God. His kindness, forbearance and patience leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). God doesn’t through up His hands, grumble or complain at our repeated delays of obedience.  While there are definitely consequences for our actions, God is long suffering desiring that we choose to walk in accordance with His commands. The Old Testament reminds us of God’s patience in holding off the flood while Noah built the ark giving more time for repentance (I Peter 3:20).  The New Testament reminds us that the delay in Christ’s return isn’t an indication of slowness on His part, says Peter, but of God’s longsuffering and unwillingness for anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9)

Kind of puts patience in a whole new light doesn’t it? God bookends patience with an overarching theme of His love and great desire for a relationship with each one of us. So the next time we’re tempted to allow impatience to rise to the surface let’s purposefully rely on His Spirit living within us to birth forth patience we can’t produce. Let’s resist the grumbling and choose to be imitators of our Creator God whose patience never runs out.

“Father, our anxiety and frustration would melt away if we would only learn to welcome Your Spirit’s control and trust You when wait defines our journey. Help us to endure our seasons of wait without compromise confident You are working all things for our good.”

For His Glory

Janet Martin
TRBC Women’s Life