The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9, NIV)
Virtually all of us have a slow streak somewhere. You might be a slow driver, a low eater, or—heaven forbid!—a slow golfer. You might also be a slow dresser, the kind who tries on one thing, then another, before deciding just what feels good and looks right today.
When you are any of these, what you need in life are friends who are slow with their patience. That is, they’ll wait for you with hardly a notice, “not keeping a record of wrongs,” as Paul said love does not do. If you find a friend like this, never let them go!
Getting dressed and showing patience are perhaps more closely connected than we realize. Today we conclude our August study of Colossians 3:12, where we read of clothing ourselves with five attributes of Christ: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. One of the most valuable things we have come to recognize along the way is that God is asking us to be what he already is. He is compassionate, he is kind, he is humble, he is gentle, and he is patient. Now he wants us to be the same.
Church tradition has long taught that “patience is a virtue.” But more than this, it is a characteristic of Christ, which means that the Holy Spirit will work to produce patience in us. It’s not something we muster up on our own (though, yes, it will sometimes feel like this, as we count to 10 or take a walk to let ourselves calm down in the face of a patience-trying moment).
With God, we must be patient with those who seem ever resistant to the offer of grace.
You are likely familiar with the fruit of the Spirit, which was Paul’s list to the Galatians about the way God was working a new heart, mind, and spirit in them. After beginning with love, joy, and peace, Paul included patience as a product of the Spirit’s implanted work in us. While we cannot observe the process any more than we can watch a seed germinate below the soil, we can trust that when our lives are “hidden in Christ,” these excellent qualities are being brought to fruition. We might even say that it takes patience to finally see patience.
Now, what should our patience look like? On the day-to-day level, it may well look like the kindness and gentleness that we have considered in recent weeks. Where others might criticize or even explode with frustration, we would hold back, remembering the times when we have been the offender and others have been patiently kind with us.
On a grander stage, this is what the Lord has done with us. Despite our relentless course of sin, God waited for our heart to turn to him. He is patient because he wants us to come to belief. And we have. Now it is our turn. With God, we must be patient with those who seem ever resistant to the offer of grace. They may even rebuff the very kindest of our kindnesses. But we back up and pray. We wait with hope that they will come to salvation. And we trust that God is doing work below the surface with even the most crusty-hearted of our friends.
—
Jeff Hopper
August 25, 2020
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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