I Need Patience - Christ Chapel Ministries Teaching

Patience is the ability to accept delays, annoyance and frustrations without complaining. In other words it’s the ability to learn to wait for things at the right time. I have come to realise that patience is a remarkable trait of matured Christians. A patient spirit is an excellent spirit and God expects us to be patient whilst we wait for our season of success. The scriptures declare in Hebrews 10:36 that: ‘Ye have need of patience, that after you have done the will of God you might receive the promise.’(KJV).

Many are impatient in their quest to achieve greatness or acquire wealth or even to get their God-Given promises. Our world is a ‘fast food world’ where we want everything fast and this spirit of get things quick has resulted in many casualities,many wrong and immoral means to make it at all cost. Listen to this advice; ‘That ye be not slothful but be followers of them who through faith and patience inherited the promises. (Hebrews 6:12).

We live in an age where we have been taught that faith means get it now! But the Bible teaches that we need a combination of faith and patience to inherit the promises.
Show me a man of faith and I will show you a man of patience! Overnight greatness is questionable. Abraham had faith without patience. In a bid to get a child at all cost both he and his wife Sarah could not wait for God. They tried to help God and ended up producing an Ishmael.God still came to them and said my promise is to both of you and that Sarah will give birth to an Isaac not Ishmael. Eventually God honoured his word though it took time .when Isaac was born the Bible says in Genesis 21:9 that Ishmael began to mock at Sarah. A war began in Abraham’s house which led to the eventual removal of Ishmael and Hagar from the house. Today we still see the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael engaged in that battle in the Middle East and many parts of the world. Why choose a short term gain for a long term pain? Unfortunately many impatient people in our day have produced countless Ishmaels in their marriages, ministries, careers, businesses etc. because they don’t want to hear the word wait!

An Impatient person is hasty in spirit. Impatience produces hasty decisions. Jesus said;
‘In your patience posses ye your souls’ (Luke 21:19). A Chinese proverb says that if you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow. There are a lot of people who are in jail for murder or even executed for murder. But if such individuals had exercised a little patience they would not have pulled the trigger or used the murder weapon. Please, no matter the news you hear be patient to check the truth before you act. You are bound to take a foolish decision anytime you are not patient.

Wait till you get married. Even though you may feel you are growing older, don’t choose to get pregnant and get a child anyway anyhow with a man who is not your husband. Most of the impatience and hasty spirit in our age is born out of a spirit of competition. Impatience to see your church grow, drive that car, buy that house etc has unfortunately become the new way of living. Saul lost his ministry because he couldn’t wait for Samuel. Many have lost their ministries because they cannot wait to be mentored. They have ended up as ministry or career casualties because they set off with a spirit of competition upon a foundation of impatience to proof a point that they have arrived or that they are also important.

Many people are in debt because they will not wait to have enough money or reach the level of the person they are competing with. You may not know what keeps someone going. Be patient and be content with what you have!

It is said that if you want to see the intestine of an ant you dissect it with great patience. If you cannot wait patiently on your knees in prayer for that dream and promise then you will have to wait in the wilderness of failure and pain.
Impatience rather slows you down. Have you heard the proverb more haste, less speed?

Have patience with all things but first with yourself. Your period of waiting in patience is your God given period of preparation. Only those who have the patience to do simple things perfectly will acquire the skill to do difficult things easily. I have found out that all things come to him who waits -provided he knows what he is waiting for!

Finally I leave you with this scriptural counsel: ‘... but if we hope for that we see not, then do we with PATIENCE wait for it.’’ (Romans 8:25)