How to Develop Patience Biblically
When you learn how to develop patience biblically, you realize our all-seeing God knows how to help you acquire it. The virtue patience is one of the ickiest virtues to attain because waiting is involved and who likes to put life on pause?
Maybe you and I are more familiar with impatience because we live in an instant-everything world. Breakfast can consist of instant oatmeal, coffee, powdered eggs, and waffles that are hot in 30 seconds.
Once you head out the door, you have immediate access to the internet, GPS, and your contacts. Accessing data is as simple as speaking a command. At work, the expresso machine doles out gourmet coffee while apps help you navigate a digital world.
We have whatever we need at our fingertips so we don’t have to wait. That’s fine for the secular world but believers reap the spiritual benefits of patience to counteract an instant-everything world.
How to Develop Patience
A couple of examples from the Bible teach us when patience isn’t working.
Moses had every reason to let the Israelites get on his last nerve. One day he had enough and struck a rock twice when God said to speak to it for water to come forth. For that impetuous action, God forbid him to enter the promised land. Likewise, Esau sold his birthright position to his brother Jacob for a bowl of soup because he was hungry.
People buy houses when financially they aren’t in a position to do so. What follows is years of bowing to debt instead of living in freedom. When you can’t wait for God to bring you the right mate, you step out and choose “someone” to fit the bill. You’re in for a miserable experience when a blessed life was possible.
Goals never accomplished, a sickness that doesn’t go away, and frustration in the face of reality all take swipes at patience. You start doubting that God ever spoke to you about His dreams for you. That’s when you come up with your own plans because God’s way is just too slow. Your faith tanks and unbelief takes over.
Then rebellion sets in and you’re out of God’s will. Does all of this sound familiar?
Patience is a virtue and you can learn how to develop patience from the inside out by taking daily steps to combat impatience.
The Importance of Patience in the Christian Life
Because people expect instantaneous results, you encounter impatient people everywhere. That’s the perfect training ground on which to learn patience.
None of us are on the same page physically, spiritually, or mentally so our differences can cause friction if we aren’t careful. Add to that a restless world and you’ve got the perfect conditions for squabbles.
You and I may encounter the worst of sinners and ask, “Lord how long until your return?” Christians sigh heavily and ask God for strength each day. The Christian life is not all fun and games so inner strength in the form of patience is nearly mandatory for survival.
As you wait for life’s puzzle pieces to fit together into a recognizable, cohesive plan, you may lose hope. That’s the thing. God doesn’t give us all the pieces at one time because we’d be overwhelmed. Instead, like clockwork, He reveals the next steps on His timetable. He expects us to be patient and trust that He knows what He’s doing.
You can do as the psalmist did in Psalm 130:5-6 when impatience rises up.
I wait for the Lord, with bated breath I wait; I long for His Word! My soul waits for the Lord.
God was so much a part of this writer’s life that he expected Him to deliver a personal message any minute. Instead of coming up with your own game plan, you stay silent and still. You’re cool as a cucumber when circumstances say otherwise.
How to Develop Patience: Expect Adversity
The Israelites didn’t respect God’s timing. They were always on the wrong side of everything God used to benefit them.
Numbers 21:4 – Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey.
Exodus 32:1 – Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.
How quickly they forgot God! When you’d rather take a holiday from God, you are in deep trouble. Everyone has areas inside of them untouched by God—places you don’t want Him to change. But remember, rebellion isn’t the answer.
Isaiah 30:1-2 – Woe to the rebellious children, says the Lord, who carry out a plan, but not mine; and who make a league, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin; who set out to go down to Egypt, without asking for my counsel, to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh, and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt.
When you and I run from God’s presence, we run away from the only reliable protection to shield us from harm. I’ve found that running away from God is just plain dumb. This is what we should do.
Isaiah 30:15-16 – For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.
How to Develop Patience: Hold On
God is big enough to handle what contributes to your stress. You can reach for your Bible any time and learn from the mistakes of others. Once you’re fully convinced that God is NEVER wrong, follow His ways to build other virtues like faith, hope, love, and kindness. Your success on your Christian journey is a revolving door that always stops at the feet of Jesus. He’s the essence of who you are.
I’ll leave you with a few practical quotes to help you learn how to develop patience biblically.
Do not let the loud utterances of your own wills anticipate, nor drown, the still, small voice in which God speaks. Bridle impatience till He does. If you cannot hear His whisper, wait till you do. Take care of running before you are sent. Keep your wills in equipoise till God’s hand gives the impulse and direction. —Alexander MacLaren
No short-cut that tries to bypass the patient unfolding of the true character of God, and our relationship to him as his children, can ever succeed in providing long-term spiritual therapy. —Sinclair B. Ferguson