The Apostle Paul tells us that when we’re filled with the Holy Spirit, we’ll evidence the fruit of the Spirit in our lives by exhibiting, "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance:."
In this message, we want to look at the 4th fruit of the Spirit, which is LONGSUFFERING, or PATIENCE. Today we do not see a lot of patience in our society.
Illus: Does it strike you as strange that the company that advertises, "You deserve a break today" is a fast food restaurant? I guess what they are saying is "Come on in! Let’s see how fast you can take a break today, and then get out on the road again."
Illus: When I think about IMPATIENT Americans, I think of a very lonely guy who decided life would be more fun if he had a pet. So he went to the pet store and told the owner that he wanted to buy an unusual pet. After some discussion, he decided on a centipede, which came in a little white box that was it’s house. He took the centipede home, found a good location for the box, and then decided he would start off by taking his new pet to a restaurant to have dinner. So he asked the centipede in the box, "Would you like to go to Wendy’s with me to have dinner?" But there was no answer from his new pet. This bothered him a bit, but he waited a few minutes and then asked him again, "How about going to Wendy’s with me?" But again, there was no answer from his new friend and pet. So he waited a few minutes more, thinking about the situation. He decided to ask him one more time; this time putting his face up against the centipede’s house and shouting, "Hey, in there! Would you like to go to Wendy’s with me to have dinner?"
A little voice came out of the box from the centipede: "I heard you the first time! I’m putting on my shoes!!"
Patience is not something we see a lot of these days. For example, to drive on the highways in America you have to be trained to drive two ways:
• The way the highway department requires
• The way the general public requires
There is a big difference between what the HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT REQUIRES and what the GENERAL PUBLIC REQUIRES.
Illus: I saw a handbill the other day that shows what the GENERAL PUBLIC requires to drive in America.
• While driving in the large cities, there is no such thing as a dangerous high-speed, they all drive like that.
• If you actually stop at a yellow light, you will be rear ended, cussed out and possibly shot.
• When you are the first one on the starting line, count to five when the light turns green before going to avoid crashing with all the drivers running the red light in cross-traffic.
• If someone actually has their turn signal on, ignore it, it is probably a factory defect.
• Car horns are actually "Road Rage" indicators.
• All old ladies with blue hair in Mercedes have the right of way. PERIOD!
• If asking directions, you must have knowledge of Spanish or Mandarin Chinese.
• The highway speed is posted 55 but anything less is considered downright sissy.
• If you go to watch local football teams play, pay the $5.00 to park INSIDE the football stadium parking lot. Parking elsewhere could cost up to $2500 for damages, towing fees, parking tickets, etc. If some guy with a flag tries to get you to park in his 'yard', run over him.
With these simple rules in mind, you are now ready to really drive on the highways in America. Please try and keep up.
We live in a very impatient age. Do you realize how many things have been invented because of impatience?
• We no longer have to get in front of our car and take a crank and turn it to get it started.
• We no longer have to go to a hand pump and pump the handle to get water.
• We no longer have to light a match to light the oven to cook our meals.
• We no longer have to build a fire in the fireplace to get heat to stay warm.
• We no longer have to wait on a party line on the telephone to get to talk with some on the telephone.
• We no longer have to get out of our easy chair and walk across a room to change the television channel. We now have remote controls!
Man has invented all kinds of things, and one of the reasons behind these marvelous inventions is LAZINESS and IMPATIENCE. Most of us are wired for action, and we get frustrated with how slow things move sometimes. As we take a look at our life, we will find that many of our sins are linked to impatience.
Look again at Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering PATIENCE, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance:...”
Let’s look at this wonderful fruit of the Spirit that God wants in our life. We see immediately that God is-
I. THE PROVIDER OF PATIENCE
It is important that we know where PATIENCE comes from.
Illus: A man was traveling through a town and he noticed signs on different buildings, such as:
• Smith’s Hardware Store
• Smith’s Furniture Company
• Smith’s Service station
• Smith’s Bicycle shop
• Smith’s Nursing home
He saw all of this and he could not help but wonder, where all the Smiths came from. Then as he drove out of town he saw a large building with a large sign, “Smith’s Manufacturing Company” and he said, Now I know where all those Smiths came from.”
We need to know that PATIENCE comes from God. We can’t manufacture PATIENCE, IT COMES FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT WORKING IN OUR LIVES! He alone is the source and supplier of patience because He is the God of all patience.
WHAT IS PATIENCE?
I am sure that many of you feel that you know what it is, but it might be that you do not. Let me give you some definitions.
• "Patience is self-restraint which does not hastily retaliate against a wrong." When someone does you a wrong, how do you respond - with patience or anger?
• "Patience is the ability to accept delay or disappointment graciously." How do you deal with delay or disappointment? For some that’s really tough. Yet, patience is the ability to accept it without becoming upset.
• "Patience is the powerful attribute that enables a man or woman to remain steadfast under strain & continue pressing on."
Maybe that is where some of you are. You’re dealing with difficult circumstances. You’re weary, but patience is the quality that says, “I can keep on keeping on.”
Here is my favorite definition: "Patience is a calm endurance based on the certain knowledge that God is in control."
We see THE PROVIDER OF PATIENCE, now let’s look at:
II. THE PROBLEM OF PATIENCE
Living a patient life is not an easy thing to do. There are at least two reasons why PATIENCE is a PROBLEM for us.
1. IT GOES AGAINST HUMAN NATURE
Illus: There is even a church in Florida that advertises 22-minute services. Go there and they promise that in 22 minutes it will all be over, and you’ll be out of there. The sermons are only 8 minutes long. Now don’t get your hopes up. It’s not going to happen here.
Illus: A little 4-year-old boy was traveling with his mother and constantly asking the same question over and over again; "When are we going to get there? When are we going to get there?" Finally, the mother got so irritated that she said, "We still have 90 more miles to go, so don’t ask me again when we’re going to get there." Well, the boy was silent for a long time. Then he timidly asked, "Mom, will I still be four when we get there?"
From the moment we’re born we want things taken care of right away.
Illus: When a baby wakes up in the middle of the night and is hungry, it doesn’t lie there and think, “I know mom and dad are tired so I’ll just wait until breakfast time.” No, the baby cries impatiently until it receives the attention it demands.
Many of us haven’t changed much from those days. Patience is a problem for all of us because it is contrary to HUMAN NATURE.
2. IT GOES AGAINST OUR CULTURE
Those of you who have traveled to other countries recognize that Americans are wound tight. In fact, they are wound so tight they do not know if they are coming or going! You can see that in their conversations.
Many today are rushing through life so fast they do not even have time to think about what they are doing. Their nerves are tighter than a banjo string. One of the reasons that many like to go to the mountains is because mountain people know how to relax.
Illus: They remind me of the man whose car had stalled in heavy traffic just as the light turned green. As he frantically tried to get his car started, he was greeted by a chorus of honking horns and angry faces. He finally got out of his car, walked back to the driver behind him and said, “I’m sorry but I can’t seem to get my car started. If you’ll go up there and give it a try, I’ll stay here and honk the horn for you.”
The key to having patience is to hold on to God and then slow down!
In Psalm 130:5-6, we read, “I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.”
Notice, the scripture says, we’re to wait for the Lord more than “they that wait for the morning…”
Illus: In biblical times, watchmen vigilantly guarded the city during the night, looking for enemies who might attack. They were alert and obedient. They eagerly waited for the morning because that’s when they could relax and get some sleep.
• A watchman couldn’t control the rising of the sun
• He couldn’t speed up the process
• He knew the difference between his job and God’s job
It may be difficult to wait for the Lord, but it’s worse to wish you had.
Illus: Every time I think of impatience, I think of Abraham and Sara. God promised them a child in their old age but they got impatient and took matters into their own hands and had a child by Hagar. And every time you hear about Israel and the Arabs, you need to remember it was impatience that caused that problem.
We see THE PROVIDER OF PATIENCE and THE PROBLEM OF PATIENCE, now let’s look at:
III. THE PROMISES OF PATIENCE
During Isaiah’s time powerful enemies like Assyria threatened Israel. They were to wait on the Lord and trust him for the victory. Instead of waiting for the Lord to handle the situation, they took matters into their own hands. Instead of resting, they ran. We do things like this all the time, don’t we?
Now, what should they have done? Look at Isaiah 30:18, “And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.”
He promises to bless those who practice patience. Israel was shamed and humiliated when they didn’t wait on the Lord, and as a result they missed out on God’s blessings. We are paying a tremendous price for our IMPATIENCE in this society.
Illus: According to a magazine (Hope Health Letter, 2/96)
• Did you know that the annual cost of people running red lights in medical bills and car repairs is 7 billion dollars a year?
• And, for all of our hurry, the average amount of time saved by running a red light is only 50 seconds!
It never pays to run through God’s stop signs. It will only cause damage to your life when you get up and go when God is telling you to sit still and wait.
Illus: When you’re following a slow driver, instead of trying to punish him by tailgating, try to deliberately imagine this person as someone’s grandfather. If you can do this, then you’ll quickly realize that you don’t blow up at a grandpa, you love him.
Illus: A train was filled with tired people. Most of them had spent the day traveling through the hot dusty plains and at last, evening had come and they all tried to settle down for a good night’s sleep. However, at one end of the car a man was holding a tiny baby, and as night came on, the baby became restless and started screaming at the top of its lungs. Unable to take it any longer, a big brawny man spoke for the rest of the group. “Why don’t you take that baby to its mother?”
There was a moment’s pause and then came the reply. “I’m sorry. I’m doing my best. The baby’s mother is in the casket in the baggage car in front of us.”
There was an awkward silence for a couple minutes. Then the big man who asked the cruel question got out of his seat and moved toward the man with the motherless child. He apologized for his impatience and insensitivity. He took the tiny baby in his own arms and told the tired father to get some sleep. Then in loving patience he cared for the little baby all through the night.
If we could just see people as Jesus does, we’d be much less impatient and much more tolerant. Instead of putting others in their place, try putting yourself in their place.
IMPATIENCE has destroyed lives, but PATIENCE has taken lives that seemed like they were destroyed and made something out of them.
Illus: The story is told of an artist who went to visit an old friend. When he arrived, she was weeping. He asked why. She showed him a beautiful handkerchief that had great sentimental value, but which had been ruined by a spot of indelible ink.
The artist asked her to let him have the handkerchief, which he returned to her by mail a few days later. When she opened the package she could hardly believe her eyes. The artist, using the inkblot as a base, had drawn on the handkerchief a design of great beauty. Now it was more beautiful & more valuable than ever.
Sometimes the tragedies that break our hearts can become the basis for a more beautiful design in our lives. Be patient with the hurts over which you have no control. In God’s hands they may even become a source of healing, help, and beauty.
Illus: A young man was very upset with his mother. They had argued, and at work that day he wrote her an angry letter listing all the things that he felt were wrong with her. It was a very nasty letter. After sealing the envelope, he handed it to a co-worker to mail for him. Well, the co-worker knew what was in the letter, so he put it in his pocket. "Maybe he’ll have second thoughts about it. I can always mail it tomorrow," he thought.
The next day, when he went to work, his friend was sitting there all forlorn, saying, "Oh, I wish I had never written that letter. I’d give $100 to have it back." Well, you know what happened, don’t you? His friend pulled it out of his pocket and said, "Here it is."
But in real life we don’t get words back, do we? In real life the words fly out there, and they continue to wound and hurt again and again.
Conclusion:
In closing, let me suggest three options we could choose from when we are facing the trials of life.
• SUPPRESS IT - That’s when we ignore it. This is not good because the number one cause of depression is suppression, or anger turned within.
• EXPRESS IT - Many psychologists today suggest that each of us has a bucket full of anger that we just need to dump. Once we get rid of it by blowing up then we’ll be fine. Some refer to it as “venting” or practicing the “Primal Scream.” This is a myth, because instead of having a bucket of anger we’ve got an internal factory of fury with unlimited production capacity.
Proverbs 29:11, “A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.”
• CONFESS IT - When you’re angry, admit it to yourself, confess it before God, and then confess it to the person you’re mad at. Meet with the person and say something like this, “I’m hurt and feel myself getting angry but I care enough about our relationship to deal with the issues that are bothering me.”
I. THE PROVIDER OF PATIENCE
II. THE PROBLEM OF PATIENCE
III. THE PROMISES OF PATIENCE
