When Patience Runs Out

Have you ever prayed for patience? Some people would argue that when you pray for patience God is faithful to bring along a trial to teach you patience. In the midst of the trial you may wonder why you were foolish enough to pray for more patience. I don’t know if that is necessarily how God works or not, but I do think while praying for patience may not be a bad thing, there could be a better way to obtain patience or any other fruit of the Spirit.

We find patience listed as one of the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22,23 (NKJV). “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering (patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self – control.” The Passion Translation describes the verses this way, “But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions: joy that overflows, peace that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and strength of spirit.” In both of these translations, patience is referred to as a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Meaning in order to have patience or kindness or peace or any of these listed here, it needs to be a fruit of the Spirit. The Passion Translation even points out that these fruits of the Spirit are a varied expression of divine love. 

I think when we pray for patience, it is like trying to find fruit on a tree we have yet to plant. If patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, how then do we get more patience? We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We also need to be filled with the Holy Spirit continually. The only way fruit is produced is by staying connected to the tree or the vine. Only in that connection can fruit receive the nutrients it needs to grow into the fruit it is destined to be. The same goes for you and me. We cannot expect to live disconnected from God and produce good fruit. We have to be willing to stay connected to Him in order to receive the nutrients we need to grow into the person we are destined to be.

In John 15, Jesus is speaking to HIs disciples about this very truth. He says in verse 4,5 (NKJV), “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” The Passion Translation reads this way, “So you must remain in life-union with me, for I remain in life-union with you. For as a branch severed from the vine will not bear fruit, so your life will be fruitless unless you live your life intimately joined to mine. I am the sprouting vine and you’re my branches. As you live in union with me as your source, fruitfulness will stream from within you- but when you live separated from me you are powerless.” Did you catch that? With God, fruitfulness will stream from within us, but apart from God, we are powerless.

I think sometimes we read the list of the fruit of the Spirit and see it as some sort of checklist to be accomplished to be a “good” person. We might say, well, I have kindness most of the time, I am definitely faithful, but wow, my patience is really lacking. Lord, can you help me with patience because that one gets me. It is not necessarily a bad prayer, but let me change your perspective a little bit. What if you read through the list and realize that you may be lacking in one of the fruits, and then realize God is giving you an invitation to go deeper with HIm.  If you look at the verse from John 15 in the Passion Translation, He wants your life to be intimately joined to Him. Why? Because He truly longs for a relationship with you. He wants you to know Him intimately. He wants to be able to share HIs secrets with you and for you to live a life in abundance and to be all that you are designed to be. He took great care to create you exactly who you are, and His heart has a longing for you to be intimately connected to Him. When you plug into that truth and live your life connected and “on the vine”, the Spirit flows through you and you naturally have the fruits in your life you feel you are lacking now. 

How do we stay connected to God? We read the Bible which is His love letter to us, His people. We pray and then listen to what He wants to say to us. Helpful hint: if you hear something you think might be from God and it sounds better than you think it should, it is most likely from God. He always talks to us in loving ways, even when He is correcting us. We can also stay connected to God by worshipping Him through singing praises to HIm or loving our family or honoring the people in our workplace. You can also ask God to show you the places where you are living disconnected from HIm, and He will be faithful to reveal that to you. Be quick to repent of living separated from Him and ask Him to help you reconnect with Him in that area. 

So the next time you feel like you are striving to accomplish a fruit of the Spirit, remember there is a better way. Living your life connected to God and having His Spirit flow through you to produce good fruit is way better than trying to accomplish a checklist He never meant for you to accomplish apart from Him. God loves you more than you can understand or imagine, and He desires to have an intimate relationship with you. He gave everything He had for that relationship with you. His heart longs for connection with you. Yes, you!