Scriptural Readings: Matthew 13 24-30, Jeremiah 29:11, Galatians 6:9
How do we see and gauge our patience? Are we struggling with it? If yes, then perhaps, one of the reasons is we are not giving ourselves more chances or time to build more. And if we have no chance, what is next? More struggles. That is for sure. Patience is only one of the many things we need to have a lot in our spiritual lives. We still have kindness, and the list goes on. We are looking forward to developing these things in us, but we feel that the chance of having more time is just another thing that we need to work on.
Because of our imperfection and self-centeredness, we must learn how to deal with patience and impatience. The divine essence has become a mystery for us because we do not have the patience to accept our Father’s messages, or sometimes, we miss it deliberately.
If we look carefully between patience and impatience, these two things should be dealt with separately. They are opposites, and this is why we have to go deeper into comprehending each of them. Most of us would like to have perfect patience, and at the same time, to get rid of impatience in an instant. We can never have patience if we continue having an attitude of impatience. And if impatience rules, then patience becomes history. Remember, we cannot serve 2 masters at the same time. Either we are going to hate the other, or we will love the other.
Matthew 13 24-30,
King James Version
V.24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
V.25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
V.26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
V.27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
V.28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
V.29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
V.30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
New Living Translation
V.24 Here is another story Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field.
V.25 But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away.
V.26 When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew.
V.27 “The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?
V.28 “‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed. “‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked.
V.29 “‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do.
V.30 Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.’”
Just like the wheat and the tares, patience represents the wheat, and the tares represent impatience. Both are present in our lives, and one might outgrow the other, and unless we get rid of what hinders our spiritual growth, we will never grow spiritually. We simply have to give ourselves chance to work on our patience. Uncertainties are not strange and new to us. What we do not know is to deal patiently with these issues. So, we must give time to work on our patience, and God would do His part. After all, I Corinthians chapter thirteen starts with love is patience. There is no way that God will not grant us the patience that we need more. Love is patience, and love is God.
The question now is, how do we know how to deal with these two first? Which is the best time for us to be patient and not fall into impatience? For instance, we must have patience in waiting for the stop signal to go green. We know that it will turn sooner or later, otherwise, we become impatient by beating the red light. In a situation wherein we are eagerly waiting for a result, most of the time, we are practicing impatience. In this scenario, patience is behind impatience. We speculate and talk a lot about the outcome, a sign of impatience. We very seldom keep quiet and patiently wait for the results. We wait patiently for fruit to ripen, but because of our impatience, assuming it is already ripe, we pick them only to find out it is sour. We know we have patience, but, most of the time, impatience dictates.
Jeremiah 29:11
King James Version
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
New Living Translation
For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
One of the many situations that we must practice patience is when we reach the point of hopelessness. This is the best time to be silent in the presence of God and wait patiently for definite answers. We should not give impatience space. Why? Because we know that God answers prayers! We just have to wait patiently and not impatiently. This is where our faith works against impatience. Our faith in Jesus Christ overpowers our weakest emotions. We have to defeat the evils of impatience by patiently waiting for God’s empowering in us.
Galatians 6:9
King James Version
And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
New Living Translation
So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.
God usually gives answers through intuition. We must be aware of the things happening around us, which God uses, for us to know the answers. However, we have to be very careful because emotions can easily fool us. In this case, patience is in full swing. Problems and uncertainties will come and go, but God will make us strong through our patience by trusting more in Jesus Christ. Learning patience is trusting Jesus Christ alone. The way to have patience is to trust Jesus. This is the divine progress we are looking for in our spiritual lives. W will harvest spiritual blessings!
Our God gives us the chance to make our lives better, including patience. We read many things about patience in the Bible, but it seems that it is not working for us. Patience is the one we always lose, making us impatient. We have patience. However, we keep losing it because we also lose our trust in our Lord and Savior, Jesus. The Lord is patient with us, and so must we. We should increase our patience through prayers approaching the throne of grace of our Father in heaven.
If we continue to trust the Lord, we will experience tremendous patience. This is why a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is needed. Accepting Him as Lord and Savior, we were born again, entering into the kingdom of our Father in heaven, making us a co-heir with Jesus.