You are the people of God; he loved you and chose you for
his own. So then, you must clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness,
humility, gentleness, and patience. Colossians
3:12
“Clothe yourselves” with, among
other things, patience. The apostle Paul
instructs that this is part of what it means to be the people of God. His use of the verb “clothe” implies that we
have a role to play in developing and displaying patience in our lives. We don’t just wait for God to make us more
patient. This has been my experience.
I’ve joked that praying for
patience is a dangerous prayer, but it is a prayer that I encourage you to pray
on a regular basis. One of the ways that
prayer changes us is that it sensitizes us to the opportunities before us to
have our prayer answered. It also has
the potential to see the situations that cause us to be impatient in a
transformative way. So, begin by asking
God to teach you patience. Then, when
you encounter a situation where patience is needed, here are some suggestions
for cooperating with God’s patience-building in your spirit.
Press pause and breathe. When you sense impatience rising up, imagine
pressing a pause button on it. Then take
at least one full slow breath. As you
draw in your breath, connect with the Spirit within you. Realize that in that short pause, you have
the freedom to choose your response to this situation. More importantly, the resource of God’s
presence is available to help you respond in the moment. I stress “respond” because our tendency is to
simply react. And if you’re like me, the
reaction is too often impatience.
Pausing and breathing creates the potential for a chosen response
instead of a reaction.
Reframe the situation. Instead of saying to yourself, “I can’t
believe this traffic!” use your creativity to imagine how you could use the
extra time. Instead of focusing on the possibility
of you being late, look for a different way to see the bigger picture. Getting all bent out of shape will not make
you arrive on time, so how could you use the time you been “given.” You can deal with being late when you arrive
and when you arrive, you may be better equipped to deal with being late than if
you tied yourself up in knots all the way there.
I like the way Melissa Eisler puts
it:
“Getting better at being patient
will make your life (and the lives of those around you) easier and ultimately
will make you a happier person. After all – adversity won’t be going away
anytime soon – it’s part of the human experience and you can’t escape it.”
Patience also identifies you as the
people of God.
Prayer: Spirit of the
Living God, fall afresh on us, especially in those moments that would trigger
impatience. Amen
Prayer Focus: Pray
for teachers that you know today.
Song: In a Hurry -
Alabama
