Be Patient
Do any of these ever happen to you:
-When you’re late for work or an appointment, that’s the only time you get behind a slow person.
-When you only have 5 minutes to run into the store for milk, that’s the time there is one checker (who is the slowest person on the planet) and 10 people in line at the self-checkout.
-Your spark plug socket sticks to your newly installed spark plug, but not your ratchet extension so you can’t get it back out.
-You travel in early spring to the Southern Utah desert for mountain biking in the much-needed sun, but it rains and snows the whole time you’re there (“unprecedented weather” the locals say).
-You are the only one left in the shop to load the Customer’s truck, and the banding on the last pallet breaks, spilling all its contents all over the floor.
-Your rented rototiller runs out of fuel 5 minutes before you are done, and 10 minutes before you have to have it back.
-Check-out time is 11:00 am at your RV park, and at 10:55 you discover RV slideouts won’t come in.
-Your car gets a flat tire at the center of a long bridge with no shoulder or room to pull over.
-I was actually at Arby’s one day for lunch, and just as I ordered my Beef and Cheddar, they ran out of roast beef! How does Arby’s run out of roast beef??!! That’s like Mcdonald’s running out of fries…oh wait, that’s happened to me also!
“Why do these things always happen to me?” We ask that but don’t expect an answer. Well, there actually is an answer: they are allowed by God to teach us patience and perfect us.
“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:2-4
In this scripture passage, we are told to count it all joy, which means it’s a choice. The word “count” means to consider or to evaluate. Then, we are told to be joyous about the situation! Wow, that’s the opposite of what we normally do.
The word “trials” means something that tests us. External occurrences that break the pattern of peace, comfort, or happiness. Trials are something negatively different than we expected.
These trials test our faith. Faith is the calm assurance that what God is doing or allowing is best for us. It says I trust God and His truth, and I cling to His promises. Remember Romans 8:28? “Faith” in this James context means “I choose to not let this situation rob me of the joy I have, and is only a test to see how I respond. It is a test to teach me patience.”
The more patience you have, the less effect those trials have on you. Patience is a sign of maturity. The more mature you are, the better you can handle life’s little (and large) trials. I think the older we get, the more we need patience (endurance or perseverance are similar terms) because the “trials” seem to be bigger and harder to deal with as we age.
The more patient we are, the closer to perfect we become. The term “perfect” and “complete” in the James passage does not mean sinless, but fully able to handle what comes our way. It means to be stable and steady, a very desirable character quality. We do that by trusting Christ and relying on His presence and strength. We do that by endeavoring to be more like Jesus, more specifically His character traits.
The Bible tells us that we find hope and strength when trials come when we run to God “for refuge” Hebrews 6:18. It describes that hope as a sure and steadfast “anchor of the soul” that fixes itself in the solid reality of God’s power, loving knowledgeable care, His presence in us, and His trustworthy faithfulness Hebrews 6:19.
Did you catch the word picture in that passage? Anchor for the soul. Think of a ship that is at anchor during a fierce storm. Yes the seas and wind are raging, but the ship is safely anchored to bedrock, which is God.
Patience is actually one of those traits severely lacking in today’s society. Do you agree? How about the statement “Patience is absent in a godless society”?
Do you also then see that if we Christians have and show patience, others may see us a different…in a good way? They may ask about that, which gives you an opportunity to share the Gospel with them, as 1 Peter 3:15 says.
Just think of your reaction when some “trial” jumps in front of you…do you “fly off the handle” or “fly the bird”? Or do you truly say “it’s all good”. Do you say “Oh No!” or say “This will be interesting, I trust you God!” Which is a more mature response, and which one is a better witness for Christ?
