Patience is a gift from God. Humans cannot carry patience as a personality trait apart from God. It’s not the same. True holy patience grows within the soul of believers as they abide in Christ.
We have a particular neighbor on our street that has been prone to hold everyone else to an unattainable standard as far as lawn maintenance goes. When pools are being put in, said neighbor gets disgruntled about dirt in the road. When weeds sprout, they often lack mercy to allow other neighbors on the street a few days to handle the situation. Even making quick and sharp remarks as they walk their dog down the street. Passive aggressive comments when things in the yards down the street are not up to their oh-so-high standard. You get the picture. This neighbor, their photos sent to our HOA, and their behavior to quite literally everyone else on the street leads me to frustration.
My thoughts: “Can we acknowledge that our street is beautiful? We have lovely neighbors, most of whom have children and work full time jobs. Can we give some grace?” I can tend to get “hot,” feeling my temper rising. Frustrated in defense of other neighbors that are genuinely courteous and mindful. And I’m supposed to practice patience? Patience with the neighbors that are retired and have much more time to grab a weed the hour it sprouts? Patience in quick passing conversations about my yard? Oh, that’s hard. Especially if you catch me in a moment when I’m already worked up about something irrelevant. You know? This is a seemingly silly example that I’m embarrassed to write about…so it must be a flag in my life for something I can sit with the Lord in. Search my heart to be more like Him. Maybe you also have a personal experience that feels similar.
Here is what God says. He encourages us to be slow to anger, to bear with one another, and to find strength in waiting for Him. There is that word again: wait. But we don’t like to wait. We want justice now, we want to be understood. We don’t want to feel less than. We want to promptly communicate and address situations, or is that just me?! There are several passages in the Bible that highlight the connection between patience, wisdom, and overcoming conflict.
- Proverbs 15:18 says that a hot-tempered person stirs up strife, but a patient person calms disputes.
- Romans 12:12 encourages believers to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.
- Psalm 37:7 advises believers to be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him to act.
- Colossians 3:12–13 calls for believers to put on compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another in love.
Patience in frustration is, yet again, another opportunity to wait for the Lord. To realign our hearts to His, seeking His strength and guidance before we act. While we cannot control how we are treated by others, we can control and are responsible for how we respond.
God, thank you that you sit with us, strengthening and guiding us in our frustration. Thank you for this reminder that patience is a virtue that honors you and allows us to look more like you. I pray we would each search our hearts today, thinking of a particular and recent example of a time we were frustrated. Reflecting on how you encourage us to look more like you through patience and faithfulness to show the world who you are, even when it can be really difficult. We love you. Amen.
- Britt Goff #wheatfulwednesday