The Fruit of the Patience: From God Through Us
by Daniel Burton
We live in the culture of instant gratification. Food is delivered from our phones by the press of a few buttons. Information is always at the tip of our fingertips with the advance of technology. Shows, entertainment, and literature can be immediately accessed for our enjoyment. Every carnal want and desire can be satisfied almost instantaneously. Yet this may not be for the better. For the Spirit filled Christian, patience remains an expression of God in the lives of the believers. Our time and God’s time stand in opposition to each other. While we may think that instant spiritual satisfaction is best for us, God sets patience inside of us for His perfect timing. Even the very notion of time is different for a God who stands outside of it. There is no boundary that God cannot traverse and even the constraints of time do not apply to God. As a display of His grace and mercy, God is patient with the world, giving all the opportunity to approach the one true King. God is patient and for the Spirit filled Christian, that patience works in us as well.
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
The Timing of God
The timing of God may feel immensely slow at times. We feel the calling or the promise of God given to us and expect that we would immediately receive what we have been promised. Yet, we enter into times of pause. The promises of God remain but are not immediate. Every Christian will ensure a time of waiting. 
Instant gratification is not good for the soul and anything worth obtaining is worth waiting for. Furthermore, God’s timing does not necessitate our understanding or agreement. Oftentimes, we feel that we should understand the things God is doing before we adhere to it. This is simply not true. Ours is only to have patience during the things that God brings us and trust Him along the way no matter how long it takes. A thousand days for God is as one day and one day is like a thousand days. Everything goes according to the plan and timing of God.
Yet, we must never forget that the promises of God are guaranteed. When the bible speaks of God’s promises, it does not speak of them as future events but as completed actions. The promises of God will never fail and will be revealed when the timing of God is perfect, we need only to be patient. Our future hope rests in God’s unfailing sovereignty. Promises of God declared are realities spoken into existence not hopeful wishes. Just as our joy and peace are based in the eternal nature of our future Kingdom, our patience is similarly based on the eternal nature of Jesus Christ. God is working in us and through us while we are here on this planet. Even if we are having to wait, God is still moving and working throughout the world. There is purpose and design in our being here that will not prove to be unfruitful.
Patience Observed
God’s timing confuses our timing and God’s plan throw a proverbial wrench in the engine of our plans. 2 Peter makes it clear, however, patience comes from God’s desire that everyone have, at a minimum, the opportunity to repent and turn to Jesus Christ. 
Time may move increasingly slow for us and the promises of God may seem far off, but we endure with patience the pain and struggles of this world while our eternal glory is predestined and set apart for us. Patience flows out of the relationship with Jesus Christ as the Holy Spirit works inside of us.
If we were immediately taken into eternity and removed from this world at the time of our conversion, while it would bring our suffering to an end, it would condemn the rest of humanity. There would be no hope for the people who would never hear the Gospel or see the effect of Jesus Christ on a life. There would be no person to display the impact of the grace and forgiveness that comes from a relationship with our Creator. There would be no one to proclaim the Gospel. God is patient in waiting for us to return to Him and this is the same patience we show to the world as we wait on the world to return to God as well. Thus, with the Holy Spirit inside of us, we allow the patience of God to move within and through us to the surrounding world. In doing so, we take hold of the heart of Jesus’ desire to save all mankind while keeping our faith fully in the promises that God has already given to us.
For more in this series, check out The Fruit of the Spirit
