God's Passionate Patience -

“There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise, even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary- we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!” Romans 5:3-5 (MSG)

So often I struggle with developing patience. Yesterday was no exception. I fully expected answers from my doctors, but the only answer I got was to wait six more months for the answers I want. My everyday patience is pushed to the limit, and troubles have definitely hemmed me in many times. What I thought I needed was the patience to deal with the circumstances.

But God doesn’t just want me to have that kind of patience. He wants me to have passionate patience. On my own, I don’t have the power to develop the average kind of patience needed to get through a single day, much less passionate patience. And what does passionate patience look like?

When I think of examples of passionate patience, I think of an artist patiently working on a masterpiece he or she loves, or parents who patiently raise their kids for 18 years+ to help them succeed. I think of the scientist searching for a cure, month after month, year after year. I think of the Olympic athletes who train for years to prepare for that moment to show their physical ability. It takes passion about something to wait for it and work for it with diligence.

Recognizing that God has this kind of passionate patience as He works out the details in my own life, making it a thing of beauty, is overwhelming. My life isn’t lived all at once. God chooses to slowly work through the process of refining my heart to be like His. He does it with passionate patience. Yesterday was simply one more day of refinement. It was one more reminder that God is waiting with me and working on me through this process as well.

I want God to be glorified through this process, so how do I let God grow that passionate patience in my own life? The Apostle Paul sandwiched passionate patience between two key factors: “we shout our praise” and we “keep alert for whatever God will do next”. Both require keeping my focus on God. When I focus on the circumstances it’s easy to lose my passion and become impatient. Only God can grow this passionate patience, and it is only when I’m focused on Him in stillness.