“I want to be more patient.”
It’s about the Spirit of Jesus animating your life more, which produces a greater grace, a greater fruit of patience. It’s not just powering through or making an act of the will for the thousandth time. But that’s what we so often do. We just make up our mind: I’m going to be more patient. I’m going to be more patient. You are not able to be more patient apart from the Holy Spirit. And the more the Holy Spirit animates your life, the more patient we become.
it’s difficult to be patient when people harm us, or they don’t do the things that they’re supposed to do, or when plans get ruined. I mean, the list is endless. We pray for the gift of patience, that we may not respond in anger, hurt, or a desire for retaliation. We pray that we could be patient with one another, just as Jesus is patient with us.
We need to be able to be patient with ourselves.
“I want to be a saint, and I want to be a saint now.” That process is taking place, but I’m not done. I’m not a finished product.
“a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me” – 2 Corinthians 12:7-8
I pray daily for God to remove the thorns of certain sins – these are the sins dragging me away from God’s Kingdom on a daily and recurring basis. For some reason, He has coded not to do so yet. This makes my soul impatient. I just want these sins and inclinations gone so I can seek first in my soul, heart and mind the Kingdom of God.
God is silent. Patience is strained as the temptation comes again. Do you struggle with impatience when seeking God’s Kingdom in your life?
Two points on this.
First, how long did this sin have free rein in your life? How many decades was it permitted to take root and grow? So, patience when it doesn’t go away with the snap of the fingers. God can and often does provide immediate healing. But, many times He allows for a slow heal because the roots run deep or maybe are so intertwined in the soul that many other sins are tied to it. Maybe God has to work in you to break sin you don’t see. Be patient.
Second, seeking the Kingdom of God means just that – seeking. The Road of Faith is a journey to the destination. It isn’t about being Star Trek teleported there. It’s the walk, step by step. Each time you feel the temptation or guilt of the sin, turn back to God and His Divine Mercy. Turn back a billion times and more. Each time you seek God’s mercy, you glorify that Mercy, glorifying all of Who He is – Mercy itself.
So be patient that your Road of Faith to being a Saint is slow and filled with lots of steps and even some potholes and storms.
Be patient with yourself. And with God, He will get you there. Just keep walking one foot in front of the others. Get up when you fall and step forward again. Aka patiently trusting.