Dear Rose Park,
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Paul wrote these words to the church in Galatia some two-thousand years ago. I’d imagine for many of us when we hear the ‘fruits of the Spirit’ we gravitate towards love, kindness, and gentleness. We might feel the tug of the Spirit towards patience, but because our lives are so busy we convince ourselves we just don’t have time to wait on God or our neighbors.
We want results and answers now. We like the efficiency of the drive-thru, overnight shipping from Amazon, the fast-paced intelligence of A.I,and the convenience of streaming-services. In this fast-paced and efficiency-addicted society why would we even consider calling a 1-800 number to order clothes or waiting in line for the DVD to be returned to the video-store. In almost all areas of society we are currently attempting, or have already accomplished, to eliminate the need for patience.
But that’s not how it works with faith in Christ. Patience is not only required, it is also encouraged and it is a blessing when embraced. Let me explain: if we ignore patience we deny the Spirit an opportunity to work in and through us. If we think we’ve understood ever facet of the person of Jesus, then we deny the Spirit an opportunity to shape us in His image. If we think we’ve mastered every page of scripture, then we deny the Spirit an opportunity to reveal something new. If we think we can box up God and declaw the Lion of Judah, then we deny the Spirit an opportunity to amaze us at the majesty of God.
Patience is a posture of humility. By adopting patience we are humbly approaching God expecting to be shaped and formed into His image by His Spirit, rather than bypassing the Spirit and rushing to the image, stance, and answer we think we already know. Paul saw this in the church of Galatia and I’m sure he’d see it now. Perhaps the most faithful response we could have to any sort of conflict or discussion would be to adopt a posture of patience.
Before we shout out an answer or rush to the largest and loudest mob, perhaps we could remain patient in the tension. Just as Jesus stood in the tension between the mob armed with stones and the woman at the well, perhaps we too could stand in the tension between the left and the right, the haves and the have-nots, and the blue and the red in order to bring a posture of humility expecting the Spirit to work in and through us. Of course, this will take time; it might take more time than some are comfortable with and it might even take more time than we have on this earth, but it will certainly be more faithful than bypassing the Spirit to find an immediate answer and hurting a whole host of people along the way.
I don’t have all the answers for right now, let alone all the answers for tomorrow and the years to come. However, it’s my hope and prayer to embrace patience as a fruit of the Spirit so that I might always adopt a posture of humility.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Mark
Photo by Jonathan Cooper on Unsplash