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The Fruit of the Spirit Is Patience
“For you have need of endurance [patience], so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise” (Heb.10:36, NKJV).
Patience! Patience, I Say!
Andre B. Henry, Durham, North Carolina, U.S.A.
Sabbath Introduction
Exod. 34:6; Isa. 40:31; Hab. 2:3; 1 Cor. 13:4;
Heb. 12:1, 2; Rev. 14:12
“I want it—and I want it now!” “Hurry up. I can’t wait all day.” Even little children can be heard repeating these expressions. These are words we hear, think, or speak regularly as we go about our daily lives. Patience doesn’t seem to resonate with our generation, perhaps because we’ve grown up with instant cereal, microwaves, instant messaging, and cell phones. It isn’t that having quick access to things is wrong. It’s just that when we ask for something, we want it immediately, whether it comes from our parents, our teachers, or even from God. Because He has all the answers and resources, He should be able to get it to us really fast. In the same way He shut the lions’ mouths in the den where Daniel was thrown, or went into the fiery furnace with the three Hebrew boys, we want our answers just as quickly. But think of it. Do we really need our answers that fast, or were those quick answers appropriate for those circumstances?
It’s just that when we ask for something, we want it immediately.
Do we forget the following verses? “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength” (Isa. 40:31, NKJV). “Here is the patience of the saints” (Rev. 14:12, NKJV). “Love suffers long and is kind” (1 Cor. 13:4, NKJV). “Wait for it; because it will surely come” (Hab. 2:3, NKJV). God taught Moses to take care of sheep because He knew that Moses would need that 40-year experience to handle the challenges he would face with the children of Israel during their wilderness wanderings. He passed before Moses and proclaimed that He was “merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth” (Exod. 34:6, NKJV). The Lord was often gracious and long-suffering to the children of Israel throughout their journey to Canaan. He also was patient with David through his spiritual “wanderings,” so that eventually this king of Israel was called “a man after [God’s] own heart” (Acts 13:22).
Christ showed us by His example that we can be like the Father. Let us also “run with endurance [patience] the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb. 12:1, 2, NKJV). As you study this week’s lesson, seek the answers to the following questions:
1. Why do we as Christians often lack patience?
2. What plan or determination do we need in order to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit?
3. Are we to assume that God’s patience and long-suffering will one day run out?
Salvation Secured Through Patience
Marc Chambers, Mandeville, Jamaica
Sunday Logos
Exod. 34:6; Mark 4:26–29; Luke 21:16–19; Rom. 5:3; 15:5;
2 Cor. 6:3–10; Eph. 4:1, 2; Col. 1:9–11; James 1:2–4
Gaining Your Soul (Luke 21:19)
In speaking of the difficulties, trials, and tribulations that His disciples were to expect before His return to earth, Jesus declared, “ ‘You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But not a hair of your head shall be lost. By your patience possess your souls’ ” (Luke 21:16–19, NKJV).
For the Christian, patience is not just a requisite virtue for bearable human relations; it is the difference between life and death. One’s eternal security is safeguarded by patience. Patience can be defined as the possession of, or the demonstration of a quiet, uncomplaining endurance under distress or annoyance. It is also equated with tolerance, tenderness, and forbearance in the face of provocations. It is the capability to tranquilly await results.1
This gives us a comprehensive view of what it means to be patient. Christ extols this virtue as preserving the Christian experience. To endure hardships and setbacks and to maintain a confidence in God’s faithfulness requires patience. To exercise forbearance toward oppressors, abusers, and persecutors calls for patience, especially when you are the object of abuse or oppression. To remain calm and contented when it seems as if you have been left behind as a result of upholding God’s Word demands patience to remain confident and optimistic about the future. When you’ve been seriously wronged or cheated out of that which is justly yours, it takes patience to submit your rights into God’s hands and to trust that in due season He will restore what is yours. A godly life—the Christian life—requires patience.
The Right Soil (Rom. 5:3)
Patience can be cultivated only in the right soil. That soil must be rich in certain elements: inconvenience, distress, annoyance, injustice, unfairness, oppression, persecution, and tribulation. These elements must be absorbed in the presence of an agent that is essential to the growth of patience. That element is endurance. We must learn to endure, to tolerate, to bear, to wait. One nineteenth-century preacher, A. B. Simpson said, “Beloved, have you ever thought that someday you will not have anything to try you, or anyone to vex you again? There will be no opportunity in heaven to learn or to show the spirit of patience, forbearance, and longsuffering. If you are to practice these things, it must be now.”2
The Key to the Cultivation of Patience (2 Cor. 6:3–10; Col. 1:9–11)
Thomas à Kempis declared, “He deserves not the name of patient who is only willing to suffer as much as he thinks proper, and for whom he pleases. The truly patient man asks [nothing] from whom he suffers, [whether] his superior, his equal, or his inferior. . . . But from whomever, or how much, or how often wrong is done to him, he accepts it all as from the hand of God, and counts it gain!”3
In light of this statement, consider what the apostle Paul had to say about the cultivation of patience in his letters to the believers in Corinth and Colosse in 2 Corinthians 6:3–10 and Colossians 1:9–11.
Assimilation Completed (James 1:2–4)
God gives to all Christians opportunities to cultivate patience. He provides the right soil (circumstances) with the right nutrients (difficulties). Then He asks that we ingest (receive/accept) them and then digest them so that we may grow in patience. The agent of digestion is endurance. We must learn to wait until God is satisfied that the object of His purpose (permitting difficult circumstances in our lives) is fulfilled. Jesus declared that it is in patience that we possess our souls. God has made many promises to us, and all of them are secured to us in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 1:20). We inherit these promises through patient faith (Rom. 8:24, 25; 15:4; Heb. 6:11, 12; 10:36, 37; 12:1–8; Rev. 14:12).
Only those who in hope and patience wait upon God will find security for their souls. “The one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt. 24:13, NRSV). “But those who wait on the Lord / Shall renew their strength; / They shall mount up with wings like eagles, / They shall run and not be weary, / They shall walk and not faint” (Isa. 40:31, NKJV). “ ‘By your patience possess your souls’ ” (Luke 21:19, NKJV).
REACT
1. How have you been relating to difficult circumstances and people in your daily experiences?
2. Do you have what it takes to be a patient, humble disciple of Jesus Christ?
3. How willing are you to utilize the ingredients and opportunities God has given you to cultivate a patience that will anchor/secure your faith and hope in God?
4. How can you cultivate the right soil for patience to flourish?
5. How does one develop an attitude of patience?
____________
1. Funk & Wagnall’s Standard Dictionary (1977), s.v. “patience.”
2. Sermon Illustrations, “Patience,” eSermons.com, http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/p/patience.htm
(accessed September 29, 2008).
3. Ibid.
Patience Through Trials
Patricia Haakmat, Mandeville, Jamaica
Monday Testimony
Phil. 4:6, 7;
James 1:2–4, 12–16
Temptation “comes upon us for the trying of our faith. And the trying of our faith worketh patience, not fretfulness and murmuring. . . . We are to learn valuable lessons from our trials. . . . When we talk discouragement and gloom Satan listens with fiendish joy, for it pleases him to know that he has brought us into his bondage. Satan cannot read our thoughts, but he can see our actions, hear our words, and from his long knowledge of the human family he can shape his temptations to take advantage of our weak points of character.”1
“Patience is a plant that will make rapid growth
if carefully cultivated.”
“Some of us . . . are naturally as quick as a flash to think and to act; but let no one think that he cannot learn to become patient. Patience is a plant that will make rapid growth if carefully cultivated. By becoming thoroughly acquainted with ourselves, and then combining with the grace of God a firm determination on our part, we may be conquerors, and become perfect in all things, wanting in nothing. Patience pours the balm of peace and love into the experiences of the home life.”2
Moses “was to learn patience, to temper his passions. . . . He must be trained to obey. His own heart must be fully in harmony with God before he could teach the knowledge of His will to Israel. By his own experience he must be prepared.
“Man would have dispensed with that long period of toil and obscurity. . . . But Infinite Wisdom called him . . . to spend forty years . . . [as] a shepherd. The habits of caretaking, of self-forgetfulness and tender solicitude for his flock, . . . would prepare him to become the compassionate, longsuffering shepherd of Israel. No advantage that human training or culture could bestow, could be a substitute for this experience.”3
REACT
1. How can youth and older persons learn patience from each other?
2. How can we be happy while being tempted?
____________
1. That I May Know Him, p. 279.
2. My Life Today , p. 97.
3. Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 247, 248.
Take My Yoke
Beverly I. Henry, Mandeville, Jamaica
Tuesday Evidence
Num. 12:3; Psalm 37;
Matt. 11:29; Heb. 10:36
Can you imagine having a literal yoke around your neck, teaming you with someone who is slower and either taller or shorter than you? Jesus said, “ ‘Learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls’ ” (Matt. 11:29, NKJV), therefore suggesting that He is the example of what it means to be long-suffering. The Bible gives us many examples of just how long-suffering God can be.
Six thousand years after the Fall, Christ is still pleading with us to repent and accept His salvation.
Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command not to eat of the forbidden fruit. If they did, they would die. However, it took 930 years before Adam actually did die. Six thousand years after the Fall, Christ is still pleading with us to repent and accept His salvation.
Noah warned the antediluvian world of an impending flood that would cover the earth. But they scoffed at the prophet. After all, there had never been rain before. Noah preached for 120 years, patiently repeating the warning and urging people to accept the way of escape that was being prepared.
Moses learned patience as he cared for sheep. This prepared him to be a “compassionate, longsuffering shepherd of Israel.”1
We are encouraged by David in Psalm 37:7 to trust God “and wait patiently for Him” (NKJV).
This suggests that despite the challenges we face, the desired response may be a long time coming (we need to learn to be patient); but at the end, God will give us the desires of our hearts. Ellen White reminds us that we need to be patient, for God “has a song to teach us” so “we can sing it ever afterward.”2
REACT
1. What are some ways you can show patience at home, school, and the workplace?
2. Why does it seem easier to be patient with persons who are not members of your family?
3. How does Christ show concern for our salvation and His willingness to bear with us despite our unbelief?
4. How can we emulate what God does for us in the area of patience?
____________
1. Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 248.
2. The Ministry of Healing, p. 472.
Pointers for Patience
Mark Henry, Phillipsburgh, New Jersey, U.S.A.
Wednesday How-to
Gen. 6:3; Exod. 34:6; Mark 4:26–29; Rom. 15:5;
Eph. 4:1, 2; Heb. 10:36; James 1:2–4
In Galatians 5:22, patience is sandwiched between the fruit of peace and kindness. Is this a coincidence? Or is there a natural progression from one to the other? In order to be patient, must we be at peace with oneself and kind to others?
Sometimes, our impatience is seen not only in our dealings with others but also with ourselves. So how can we become patient in our dealings with each other as well as with ourselves?
Pray. Always make your requests known to God. Read Psalm 62:8; Philippians 4:6; James 1:6, 7. Remember the prayers of Daniel, Joseph, Esther, Ruth, and John the revelator.
“Through conflict the spiritual life is strengthened.”
Read and study the Bible. The Bible testifies of Christ and teaches us how to have eternal life (John 5:39). Matthew 11:28, 29 remind us that we find rest in Christ. As we wait for the coming of the Lord to relieve us of all the challenges we have in this world, remember such passages as Isaiah 9:2–7; 53; Psalm 22; Matthew 24; and 2 Thessalonians 1:3–2:12. Let these scriptures comfort you as you wait patiently for the Second Coming. Also read about the patience and suffering of those who learned to become patient through hardship.
Meditate on the life of Christ. Think about the times when He showed great patience and longsuffering. Again, read about the lives of other individuals who attained great patience.
“Through conflict the spiritual life is strengthened. Trials well borne will develop steadfastness of character and precious spiritual graces.”* Jesus said, “ ‘Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also’ ” (John 14:1–3, NKJV).
I suggest that we can find ways to be patient as we study the life of Christ, adopt His ways, and remember that He shows longsuffering toward us—in that “while we were still sinners, [He] died for us” (Rom. 5:8, NKJV).
____________
*Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 61.
Lord, Give Me Patience!
Carl Henry, Biloxi, Mississippi, U.S.A.
Thursday Opinion
Job 38–42; Isa. 40:31; Rom. 8:28
We might think that patience is for certain types of individuals—perhaps the poor, because they have grown accustomed to their condition and therefore know how to “wait on the Lord” or for people with terminal or chronic illnesses. Do we understand the challenges of seriously ill people and their loved ones?
I have heard people say jokingly, “Patience is a virtue, but too much of it will hurt you.” I wonder if some of us who think that way become frustrated with others and even ourselves. Or can we say with Job, “ ‘Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him’ ” (Job 13:15, NKJV)? Do we truly believe that “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28, NKJV) and that He can be trusted to do what is right (Job 38–42)?
Why do we question God when . . . a car full of promising young adults crashes and all the occupants are killed
Why do we question God when good people suffer, when parents abuse their children, when a car full of promising young adults crashes and all the occupants are killed? Could the answer simply be that we live in a sin-cursed world? Yet somehow, at the very moment we ask, "Why," it seems that a deeper, greater answer is needed.
We don’t always know why we must face great problems and challenges in life. We don’t understand why tsunamis, hurricanes, and typhoons devastate cities and countries, leaving families homeless and torn apart. We can, however, live with the assurance of God’s continuing watch-care and concern for us as individuals. We can read the Bible—which contains so many examples and lessons—to help us understand God’s compassion.
REACT
1. How can we tactfully advise people in adverse circumstances to be patient?
2. Do you believe that patience is a virtue? Justify your response.
3. Do you believe God really cares about the millions of suffering people in the world? Why, or why not?
“Give Me Patience”
Barbara Manspeaker, Luray, Virginia, U.S.A.
Friday Exploration
Rev. 14:12
CONCLUDE
Too often our prayers include the thought, if not the words, “Give me patience, Lord, and hurry up.” Learning to be patient in all kinds of situations is a lifetime study. Just when you think you’re getting the hang of it, bang—anger flares, feelings are hurt, frustration sets in, and depression descends. “I’ve done it again. I’m back at the start. I’ll never make it.” What we forget is how patient God is! His patience quotient is out of this world. He longs to help us. All we need to do is ask—not once or twice or even three times, but every time Satan throws us a challenge. When you succumb to impatience, ask Jesus to pick you back up and help you to continue trying.
CONSIDER
Making a list of the type of situations that try your patience the most. Ask • Jesus to help you find better solutions for dealing with the anger, frustration, or whatever feelings these situations engender.
Role-playing with a friend various situations you both experience that try • your patience the most. Then discuss how you can handle them creatively.
Researching Bible people who tried fixing things their way rather than • waiting patiently for the Lord. Answer the questions, What was the Lord’s response? In what way did their relationship with Him change?
Making a collage of picture “opposites.” On one side, show people who are • not exhibiting patience, and on the other side, people who are. Answer the question, “Would you have acted any better than the impatient people?”
Learning a hymn or praise song you can sing to yourself or out loud (de• pending on the circumstances) each time you find your patience dribbling away.
Observing some bird feeders and nests. What are birds like around a feeder? • What are they like when they are building a nest? When the nest is full of babies? How can you relate this to patience you do or do not have?
CONNECT
Proverbs 14:29; 16:32; 19:11; 25:15.
Charles Swindoll, Encouragement for Life (Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson, 2006).
http://www.cqbiblestudy.org/site/1/lessons/2010-1/English/STUDENT/CQ-10-Q1-05.pdf
To say that God is patient is not the same as to say that He is tolerant. What is the difference between patience and tolerance, and why is it easy to confuse the two? 
As we look at the life of Christ, how does He reveal what patience means? What are some powerful examples that He gives of patience? What examples does He give, if any, of situations when patience was no longer appropriate? 
Dwell more on the question of trials and character. Sure, trials can make our character better in many cases. At the same time, what happens when trials embitter people, turn them away from God, and make them cynical and doubtful? Have you ever seen that happen to someone? If so, what can you learn from that experience? 
Besides trials, what are other ways the Lord can teach us patience? How have you learned (or are still learning) the lesson of patience? 
Is there someone you need to apologize to because of your lack of patience? Why not humble yourself and make the apology and do whatever else it takes to make things right? Isn't that what being a Christian is all about? 
