12. In a Hurry to Be Patient
Is patience a gene? I have always been impatient. Overcoming this failing is part of my personal climb. I have read the biblical verses relating to this subject many times and some have been helpful, but trying to be patient when you're feeling impatient is a bit like trying to be well when you are feeling ill. It's a nice try, but it usually doesn't go far, and I know I still have a long way to go.
Patience is a fruit of the Spirit of God, of course, but that doesn't mean that God makes us instantly patient if we ask for his help with it. As someone wryly observed, if you ask God for patience, don't expect a quick reply. But with the help we are given, we do have to develop patience. That's why something the apostle Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians can be particularly encouraging.
In Ephesians 4:1-2 Paul writes: "As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." We can compare these verses with what Paul says in Colossians, where we see the same pattern: "… clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another…" (Colossians 3:12-13). Here we have the same qualities we see in Ephesians 4 – humility, gentleness, patience, and love – grouped together with a few more – compassion, kindness, and forgiveness – added.
What is striking about these verses is that the qualities Paul is talking about are interrelated. They are not only all fruits of the Spirit of God (Galatians 5:22-23), but also they can be seen to interact in a number of ways, and this has a practical application that can be put into action. Instead of thinking about patience as an abstract goal, when we are feeling impatient with someone, if we work on one of the more concrete qualities in the group Paul brings together, it helps us to combat impatience at the same time.
For example, thinking about and working on being humble when we are feeling impatient really makes a difference. After all, when we remind ourselves that we are not the center of the universe, what does it matter if someone is late to meet with us? When I think about what it means to be compassionate, I can better empathize with the overwhelmed driver in front of me who is holding up all the traffic, and so on. If we focus on the other qualities on Paul's list, we often don't even have to think about patience directly in order to better apply it.
Encouragingly, utilizing this small tactic of working on one quality to develop another is helping me to personally grow in this area. Perhaps not as quickly as I would like, but I have to be patient.