Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT)
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
True patience is special.
A little girl visited a farm one day and asked to buy a large watermelon. “That big one you got on your hand costs 3 dollars,” said the farmer. “I’ve got only 30 cents,” replied the girl. “30 cents will buy you a small watermelon,” replied the farmer. “What about that one,” asked the farmer, pointing to a small watermelon in the field.
“Okay, I’ll take it,” smiled the little girl. “Here’s your 30 cents but leave it on the vine. I’ll be back for it in a month.”
This is a simple story that teaches us about patience in its most commonly thought of form: Having to wait. We don’t like to wait.
Musician Tom Petty makes big money singing that “the waiting is the hardest part.” We eat fast food because we don’t want to spend time or money preparing a healthier alternative. Sometimes we even use the drive-thru window so we don’t have to waste time or energy parking our car and walking inside. We order appetizers so we can eat before we eat. We record our television shows so we can skip the commercials. We pump chickens full of steroids so they’ll plump up faster. We litter our crops with fertilizers so they’ll grow faster. We charge up credit cards because we don’t want to have to spend time saving up our money. I could go on and on.
We just don’t like to wait for anything. God knows this. He knows us inside and out. That’s why he usually makes us wait. We pray for things and expect certain answers to be given within a certain time-frame. When they aren’t, we get impatient and sometimes angry.
The Israelites were faced with this same predicament. They had been waiting on their savior, the Messiah, for centuries. Year after year they waited. Their spirits groaned in expectation of this great day of God when their king, their Messiah would swoop down from the Heavens and deliver them from the pains of this life.
They found God in their waiting and so can we.
We’ll continue this conversation tomorrow.
