Articles
Patience
You will accomplish very little in life if you aren’t patient. Thomas Edison was patient, and he accomplished a great deal. He said, “Many of life’s failure are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
God wants us to be patient. Patience is a quality God wants to form in us (Gal. 5:22), because we need patience in many areas of life.
1.) We need patience with the events of life (Job 5:7). Life is messy. It can be chaotic. It can hold complications, setbacks, delays, and tragedies. We must reconcile ourselves to this reality, lean on God for strength, allow time and resources for problems and the unexpected, and patiently move forward.
2.) We need patience with each other (Eph. 4:2). There are no people who don’t require patience at some point. Alfred Adler said, “The only normal people are the ones you don’t know very well.” Bear with the faults of others, since they will also have to bear with yours.
3.) We need patience with ourselves (Phil. 3:13,14). If the possibility of mistakes paralyzes us, if we can’t forgive ourselves, if we can’t accept God’s forgiveness, if we can’t learn from mistakes, and if we can’t keep trying despite mistakes, we can’t possibly succeed.
4.) We need patience with God (Isa. 40:30,31). We need to trust that God’s will and timing are better than ours (Isa. 55:8,9). Someone said, “If we knew what God knows, we would ask for exactly what he gives.”
Learn to be patient with events, people, yourself, and God, and you’ll find greater peace and joy. Patience is worth the effort. As Aristotle said, “Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.” -Paul
