Patience is not a virtue that jumps out at us with any real urgency. Can patience really be pursued in a culture centered around results, especially quick success?

Kill your control

Evangelical church culture is no better. We revere the fastest growing churches. We marvel at men and women who show incredible gifts at an early age. But what about patience? We might not be paying much attention, but God certainly is.

God is the gardener of our lives; one of the choicest fruits he wants to plant in us is patience. This fruit cannot grow without breaking up the hard soil: our desire for control.

At peace with being powerless

Power is the root issue with patience. We are impatient when our lack of power obstructs our will. If we want to get through the checkout line at the grocery quickly, but only one lane is open, we get agitated—agitated by our lack of control.

What patience really is

So what is patience? Patience is understanding the settled reality that we are not in control. We are at peace with the fact that life is run by someone else. When we are patient we are paddling downstream, letting the force of life guide us along, knowing we can steer, but not turn upstream. Impatience is turning the boat, rowing hard against the current; we still move downstream, but with incredible exhaustion.

Impatient people are tired people.

We want more control than we have. But God wants patience to permeate our inner being. Why? Not just because life and its trials will require patience, but we need to reconcile our souls to our lack of control, trusting that God is good. If God is good and he is in control, then we can trust the satisfaction or obstruction of our will is the good design of a loving and gracious Father.

And that is worth the wait.