Please Be Patient

Please Be Patient
Alan Riley
Do you know what an oxymoron is?  If you're like me, the first time I ever heard this word, I was sure an oxymoron was a stupid ox!  Actually, an oxymoron is a contradiction or a paradox, usually expressed in two words that although said together seem to mean the opposite.  Like "act naturally," "found missing" or "fresh frozen."   My favorite oxymoron is JUMBO SHRIMP. 

I have a good friend who is a Navy veteran.  He says his favorite oxymoron is "Military Intelligence."  Another buddy of mine who is a computer genius says his favorite is "Advanced BASC."  I read an article the other day that referred to this person as a "devout atheist."  Now there's an oxymoron if ever I heard one!

You get the idea.  An oxymoron is a phrase made up of two words that should never go together.  With that in mind, let me suggest to you a phrase that according to the Bible is a spiritual oxymoron: Impatient Christian.  Sadly it is a phrase that all too often describes you and me. 

Patience is the Fruit of the Spirit that millions of believers struggle with on a daily basis, especially in the fast-paced culture most of us live in today.  Did you hear about the believer who went to the Lord in prayer and said, "Lord, I want patience in my life and I want it right now!!"?  Sometimes I feel like that person, and it bothers me.  I guess you could say I get impatient with my being impatient! 

There are several good reasons why these attributes we are looking at this week are called the "Fruit" of the Spirit.  One reason is that just like an apple is the natural product of a healthy apple tree, so, too Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-control are the natural products of a healthy Christian. To the extent all of these attributes are manifesting themselves in my daily life, my spiritual life is healthy and on target.

But unlike the apple tree that only produces a single fruit, the fruit of the Spirit is ALL of those attributes taken as a whole.  The Fruit of the Spirit is not a Piccadilly Cafeteria assortment where we get to choose which of these attributes we want to show forth in our lives and ignore the others. Trust me, if we could opt out of one, I would leave off patience.  It's the one I struggle with the most. 

Have you ever noticed the attribute that you struggle with most is the one the Lord will give you the most opportunities to exhibit?  It's true.  If you pray for the Lord to give you patience, be prepared for Him to bring into your life a lot of opportunities (not to mention people) to be patient with!

There is a second reason God uses the analogy of Fruit for these vital spiritual attributes: In the natural realm the production of fruit is not instantaneous.  It doesn't matter how much you pamper a brand new apple tree, you're not going to get bushels of apples right away.  You have to give that tree time to grow and mature and it will produce wonderful, beautiful and abundant fruit in due season.  It's the same thing with the Fruit of the Spirit.  As you and I grow and mature in the things of God, our "fruit production" goes up. 

Maybe that is why so many of us have trouble with manifesting patience in our lives.  We are so impatient to become perfect people!  We live in an instant society.  We're conditioned to get it now.  Television would make us think every problem can be solved in 60 minutes or less.  We eat "fast" food.  And when we come to Christ we expect instant perfection.

When I was very young in my walk with the Lord, a friend gave me a button that had this written on it: PBP-GINF-WMY.  It stood for "Please Be Patient; God Is Not Finished With Me Yet."  You know what?  I've walked with the Lord for a lot of years now and I still need that button!  It's like that wonderful little children's song that says:

"He's still working on me
To make me what I ought to be
It took Him just a week to make the moon and the stars,
The sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars
How loving and patient He must be!
'Cause He's still working on me..."

Thank you, Lord for being so patient with me.  Help me to be equally patient with the people that you bring into my life!




Stay Focused
and
Blessed.........................
Jan