Your Daily Devotional for September 6, 2007

 

September 6,  2007

 

 

Having Patience

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."

 

Galatians 5:22-23

 

 

When my wife and I were in Bible college, I began my first pastorate. We would travel each weekend to the Indio, California area where I would preach. One of the unique characteristics of that area was the date trees, and the local town even had an annual date festival.

 

Being around dates so much during that time I noticed a few things about date trees. Date trees live very long lives. They do not bear fruit for their first four years and are most productive around eighty years of age. Also, they produce about one hundred pounds of fruit annually. Date tree owners must have patience if they wish to receive a good crop.

 

Our verses today show us the fruits of the Spirit. These are the attributes growing Christians develop in their lives. One attribute is longsuffering. The Greek word for longsuffering is made up of the two words makro, meaning "slow," and thumos, meaning "thunder." God desires that we would be slow to anger and have the characteristic of patience in our lives.

 

In order to obtain patience, we must spend time with God and walk in the Spirit. Patience is an attribute of God and only God can give us the patience we need in our lives. Exodus 34:6 says, "And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth." We could all use more patience, and the only way we can take on that attribute of God is by spending time with Him.

 

We live in a day of impatience and quick retribution. Every day there are stories on the news of road rage, impatient grocery store customers, and retribution. Several years ago, there was a story in the Antelope Valley of a young boy beating another boy with a baseball bat after the boy cut in front of him in the concession stand line. Our society has taught us that when we are wronged, we must take revenge. But God desires that we would have patience and forgive others when we are hurt.

 

We must look to the Holy Spirit for patience during difficult times. The fruit of longsuffering is not developed with a spirit of self-determination but is developed by the Holy Spirit. Some people try counting or other methods of showing patience during difficult times, but only God can give us the patience we need. We must look to Him when we are wronged or are going through a trying time.

 

I wish we all could be a little more like the boy standing at the end of the escalator. The sales lady asked, "Son, are you lost?" He replied, "No ma'am, I'm waiting for my chewing gum to come back."

 

It is not easy for us to have patience when we have been wronged or when we are going through a trial. We must look to God and seek Him for help. If we desire to have patience, we must be walking in the Spirit and fellowshipping with God each day.

 

Are you patient even when things do not go your way? Seek God's help right now and ask Him for patience. As we daily walk with Him, we will be able to have patience in our lives.

 

 

Daily Bible Reading

Psalm 148-150 • 1 Corinthians 15:29-58

 

 

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