Problematic Patience Series

Last Sunday I shared with you that when you accepted Jesus as your Savior, you were given a new name from the Lord’s own mouth (Isaiah 62:2). And with this new name came a new purpose. Simon the fisherman became Peter the fisher of men. Saul of Tarsus, the destroyer of the church became Paul the Apostle, the builder of the church.

With our new purpose come new identities for us. We are God’s masterpiece, both individually and corporately (Ephesians 2:10).

We are over comers (Romans 8:35). Revelation 12:11 informs us “they (Christians) have defeated him (satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony.” Jesus provided the blood of the Lamb but our testimony is just as valuable to over coming the enemy. Our testimony, which is the words from our mouth, is the evidence of what we believe. When we speak negative words about ourselves, we have given power back to satan.

We are ambassadors sent from the Kingdom of God. We were chosen by Jesus to represent Jesus, to reflect Jesus in our lives, and to resonate the excitement of being a citizen of his Kingdom. In John 15:16 Jesus says, “You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit.” We did not choose the role of ambassador. He appointed us his ambassadors. We have no choice in the role. We can only choose to be good ambassadors or bad ambassadors.

In order to be good ambassadors, over comers, and masterpieces there may be some flaws we need to diagnose. Over the next four weeks, we will ponder these flaws and how we can improve in areas that show our weaknesses.

I want to start today with a true story of a man who did not live up to his name. The year was 1897. This man named Pearle had his hands in several ventures. Besides being a construction worker he also dabbled in patent medicines and went door to door selling homemade remedies. In the midst of his tinkering, he discovered a rather flavorful concoction that he thought he might be able to sell door to door. Unfortunately, sales did not go as fast as he thought they should. After a few months, he found a buyer for the patent to his flavorful concoction and sold it to Orator Woodward for a fast $450.

Woodward recognized the bargain he got. Understanding the value of marketing and patience, within eight years of the purchase, he turned that $450 investment into a million dollar business. Although both men are long deceased, the descendants of Woodward still receives income from this investment while Pearle’s descendants receive nothing.

Even today, 1.1 billion boxes of this product are sold every day. It still carries the name given to it by Pearle’s wife. This flavorful concoction made from mixing fruit flavoring with granulated gelatin is still called “Jell-o”.

Remember I said that Pearle was a man who did not live up to his name? His name was Pearle Wait. You might say Wait just could not wait.

Today we are going to talk about patience. We live in a fast-paced world. Our patience is spread thin. We want our food fast. If we sit in a drive-thru for longer than three minutes, we have been there for twenty. I get upset if they read the menu. I want to yell at them “It’s the same menu they have had for five years.”

We want to get where we are going fast. Sitting at red lights is frustrating. Getting behind someone who is actually driving the speed limit and not the complementary nine miles over is infuriating.

We look for quick meals that we can put in the microwave so we do not have to spend time waiting for the stove to preheat to 400 degrees and cook for 30 minutes.

Every new gadget is advertised as being faster. For me, my computer is not fast enough. I get impatient waiting for it to open a site and start punching keys to switch to other sites, all the while this little circle just spins around, taunting me. Finally, in frustration, I turn it off and reboot.

I often grow impatient with people. I dislike going to the doctor’s office, knowing I will be in the waiting room for thirty minutes before being escorted into checkup room where I will wait for another thirty minutes. Then the doctor will spend ten minutes of quality time with me before billing me and sending me away. I wonder why they do not give you an appointment time and tell you to come an hour later.

All of you know what I am talking about because we all grow impatient. There are numerous examples in the Bible of people who exhibited limited patience and it ended very badly for them.