How is your patience level? Are you able to maintain patience with your kids when their running around screaming at one another at the top of their lungs? Are you able to maintain patience when you’re in the checkout line at the store, and you have to wait an extra fifteen minutes while the customer ahead of you gripes about the incorrect price being charged for the detergent, and is demanding someone go to the detergent aisle to verify the correct price?
It can get difficult at times, can’t it?
Now imagine waiting year after year for something you’ve been hoping for, believing for, that still hasn’t come to pass. How’s your patience level now? That kind of waiting can stretch a person to their limits, right? That kind of waiting, if you don’t stay on guard, can steal your peace and lead to hopelessness.
So how do we remain patient, yes, during the everyday moments; but especially when the years have passed and there’s no sign, we’ll ever receive what we’ve been hoping for?
First, we examine our character.
Virtue
Are you familiar with the saying, “patience is a virtue?” It’s a pretty common phrase that gets thrown around quite a bit, but what does it actually mean?
Virtue is defined as, behavior showing high moral standards.
Applying this definition, we can conclude that patience is a behavioral characteristic that is morally good.
A great example of a virtuous woman is the account of the Noble Woman found in Proverbs chapter 31.
Throughout the chapter we are given a detailed account of this woman’s character and traits. Amongst being described as virtuous in verse ten of the Amplified Bible, she is also described as being:
· Trustworthy and Reliable: “Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value” (v.11).
· Hardworking: “She gets up while it is still night; she provides food for her family and portions for her female servants” (v.15).
· Generous: “She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy” (v.20).
· Poise: “She is clothed with strength and dignity” (v.25).
· Wise: “She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue” (v.26).
· Blessed: “Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ‘Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all’” (v.28 & 29).
The account of the Noble Woman shows us that virtue not only encompasses our behavior, but our attitude, our disposition, our speech, and our character.
If you are a virtuous woman, it will show up in every area of your life, including during times of waiting.
Patience is a morally good character trait that we get to choose to walk in, whether we’re dealing with kids with negative behaviors or waiting long lengths of time for things to come to pass in our lives.
But time can outlast even the best of us, can’t it? So how do we respond when our patience begins to falter?
We respond with hope.
Hope
“But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience”
(Romans 8:25).
Have you noticed how energizing hope is? When you’re hoping for something, truly believing you will receive it, even without knowing when or how, you’re giddy inside. You’re excited for your future and the waiting doesn’t feel so insurmountable.
I can’t help but think of children awaiting Christmas morning, when they finally get to open up their gifts. I know when I was a kid, those days before Christmas felt like they couldn’t come and go fast enough. But what kept me patient was the high hope that the gift I wanted most, would be under that Christmas Tree on Christmas morning.
Hope is the fuel that keeps patience burning within us.
What are you hoping for today?
If you have been waiting for something that feels far longer than what seems reasonable, and your patience has dwindled or is nonexistent, you need to get your hope up again.
So, if hope is what keeps patience burning within us, what is it that keeps hope burning within us?
Unwavering Hope
Losing hope not only causes our patience to dwindle, but it also threatens to harm our mental health.
A consistent state of hopelessness, believing that the dreams and desires of your heart will never come to pass, for whatever reasons, can lead to a state of depression.
How do I know this? Because I’ve been there.
So how do we ensure that we stay hopeful when the years are long, and our desires have yet to be fulfilled?
We redirect our hope, and we center it on Jesus.
“The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seek him”
(Lamentations 3:25).
There is no one who wants you to have a great and prosperous life more than the Lord. In fact, in Jeremiah 29:11 He says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jesus wants you to have hope, but He wants your hope in Him. No desire should be greater than your desire for Jesus.
If there is anything you are desiring in life, that has left you feeling anxious, depressed, or unfulfilled without it, that is a sure sign that you have placed your hope in the desire, and not in Jesus.
When your hope is in Jesus, and you’re trusting Him to hear your prayers, answer your prayers, meet your needs, and guide you, you are at peace, and able to remain patient, because your hope is cemented in Him.
Patience Is a Necessity
Why is patience a necessity?
Patience is a necessity because it is an indicator that our hope is rightly centered in Jesus, and our moral compass is on point. When we give way to impatience, it harms and corrupts our behavior, our speech, and overall, our character.
Patience keeps us grounded and focused, so that we are in position to receive the desires of our heart, when the time presents itself.
If you are struggling to remain patient, take some time to evaluate where your hope is centered, chances are, you have missed the mark. The mark is Jesus.
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand
slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to
perish, but everyone to come to repentance”
(2 Peter 3:9).
The Bible informs us that Jesus is patient with us. Jesus never asks us or expects us to walk in a characteristic that He Himself does not walk in.
Jesus is patient with you and I because He wants us all to come to a place of repentance; that is, recognizing we are sinners, headed for doom, and in need of a Savior.
Do you have a relationship with Jesus?
Because without Jesus, there is no saving. Jesus is the son of God who was born into the world for the sole purpose of dying for your sins. Jesus is the one who was crucified on a cross, bore the sins of humanity, and died a shameful death, all on our behalf. Jesus was also the one who defeated death, rose from the dead on the third day, ascended back to Heaven, where He now sits at the right hand of God the Father.
You may already have a relationship with Jesus, and if you do, that is wonderful. Continue to grow in knowledge and understanding of His ways. Continue to surrender and submit to His Lordship. The abundant life is only found in Him.
If you do not have a relationship with Jesus, He is patiently waiting for you. He knows all of your doubts, all of your fears, all of your questions. He’s well acquainted with your good side, and your not so good side. And He still wants a relationship with you.
You may or may not be ready in this moment to get to know Jesus; but when you are, simply invite Him into your life. Invite Him into your heart. Express your gratitude for what He has done for you and tell Him you are ready to turn away from your sins. That you believe He is the Son of God who died on the cross for your sins, defeated death, and rose again on the third day. Let Him know that you recognize He is the Savior of the world, and you want a relationship with Him.
Now, let’s go and pursue peace.
I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s blog! I enjoy sharing content that help women live a life they truly love, because I know what it’s like to be living your life, but not loving your life. I know what’s it’s like to pour all of yourself into others, while your passions and your purpose remains unfulfilled.
I wrote my new book, Building Your Life from the Ground Up and Creating a Life You Love, to come alongside the woman who feels like something is missing in her life, who feels like she wants more out of life, but doesn’t even know where to begin to bring about those changes.
If that sounds like you, I invite you to sample my new book, Building Your Life from the Ground Up and Creating a Life You Love. You can find it here:
Comments