Patience | Fruit of the Spirit Week 5

I'm excited for this specific message, but before I continue, we always start this series by reading Galatians chapter five, verse 22 and 23. So let's read it together aloud. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. All the self-controlled faithfulness, goodness, peace, patience, love. I wonder which one we're gonna talk about today. I'm excited for it. Now the fruit of the spirit is the character of Christ being made visible in us as we walk by the spirit, the character of Christ. Here's what it is. It is who he is, and it's made visible in us. As Christians, we should look different from the world, wouldn't you agree? Not perfect, none of us are perfect, but we should look different. And lastly, it's done as we walk by his spirit. We're not going ahead of Christ. We're walking alongside him. And so let's dive into the next fruit of the spirit today. We're gonna be talking about patience. Yes, I have a feeling that all of us need this message. We really do, I have a feeling. I'll be transparent with you. I do not pray for patience because sometimes when I do, I get hit with a series of uncomfortable events. A traffic jam on I4, somebody that cuts me off,

someone that does something crazy. And all of a sudden I got a deal with it. But I cannot skip this fruit. You know why I can't skip it? Because Paul didn't skip it. The spirit is producing this fruit in his people, whether we ask for it or not. But aren't we living in the most impatient generation in human history? I mean, we take our food out of the air fryer before the timer goes off. It's still not ready. We yell out a red light. We quit text message conversations because the dot, dot, dot, it's taken way too long. We expect Amazon to bring what we order under 24 hours. And if it doesn't, if it doesn't arrive within 24 hours, we're leaving a one star review or returning the product all together. We got issues, y'all. We got issues. Here's a problem. The same impatience that grows in front of the air fryer grows in your marriage. The same impatience that grows in a traffic jam grows in your parenting. The same impatience that grows in your interaction with Amazon also grows in your business. Impatience grows in so many areas in our life. What I've noticed is that I can't Amazon Prime

my kids into being godly adults. You can't microwave your marriage into being a healthy marriage. You can't rush the work of God in your life. We need patience. When Paul writes this passage to the church being inundated with laws and regulations of what it means to be Christians, he picks a very specific word in the Greek to describe what the spirit produces in his people. Patience, macrophumia. Here's what it means, long suffering, slow to anger. It's used 14 times in the New Testament. It's two Greek words mashed together. Macros meaning long, thumos meaning anger or fury literally means long anger. Long fuse, slow to get hot. You know, being a big family, party of seven, and being in one vehicle, someone usually is always annoying, someone else. Among the kids, I've refereed fights over who's looking out of whose window. I mean, it's just silly things. And I've said things like, don't make me pull over this car with absolute authority and no plan. And I'm like, why are you guys so impatient about the silliest things? But then I notice us adults aren't the exception. We get impatient about the silliest things.

God still is patient with us. This patience is it's actually patience with dealing with tough people. Patience with circumstances test your endurance, but patience with people, it tests your character. This is also the word used in the Old Testament talking about God. We see it in Exodus chapter 34 verse 6, here's what it says, "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness." How many of you grew up watching a really old cartoon, Looney Tunes, yes? There's a character in Looney Tunes, it's called, he's called Wiley Coyote. In my opinion, this cartoon is one of the best of the best of the old cartoons, it is. And for those of you that don't know about Wiley Coyote, let me go ahead and educate you for a little bit. He spends his whole life chasing this bird, and he had a strategy, but whenever he got tired of waiting, he would order something from Acme. Now Acme is a company in the cartoon world, bear with me, please, bear with me. He would order things like rocket skates and giant magnets and earthquake pills. And then a lot of what his go-to would be with ordering would be dynamite. Now I've watched a lot of these cartoons, and I noticed something, Acme has never once delivered a product that worked. Not once, their customer service must be terrible. So funny, because even recently they came out with a movie, it's called Coyote vs. Acme, where the coyote is actually suing the company because of all the years of Mount Funkion—oh, of all the years, I'm glad I didn't go off. Of all the years of Mount Funkion, well, here's what happens, oftentimes in these cartoons. He lights it up. He leaves it there, and he waits for this bird to come, and he waits. And this bird comes and goes, and he's like, "What is going on? Why isn't this working?" So he goes up here, and he inspects it, and boom, it blows up in his face. I'm talking about charred fur, smoked eyebrows, and then, you know what he does?

He's back to ordering another shortcut from Acme. Some of us have an Acme account with our impatience. We don't want to wait on God, so we put in a shortcut order. We force a relationship. We make a purchase. We don't afford. We say things that we can't take back. We grab what we want now, instead of waiting for what God has for us later, and just like the coyote, we're shocked when it, boom, blows up in our face. Here's the truth. God doesn't sell shortcuts. Every shortcut you order apart from him comes from Acme. It's going to blow up in your face eventually. So put down the dynamite, put down the shortcut, cancel the Acme order. The God who made the promise is the God who will keep it in his time. Come on, how many believe that? He keeps his promises in his time. The flesh is the fuse that gets shorter and shorter as we get older and older, I've noticed. Just shortens it, sleep, loss shortens it, phone use shortens it, comparison shortens it, social media shortens it, only the spirit lengthens it. That's why patience is a fruit of the spirit. It's not a work of the flesh. And remember, we learned how it's the character of Christ. So we have to look to Jesus to find patience. Now think about who Jesus picked as his 12 disciples. These 12 guys, they didn't have it all together. These weren't seminary professors, they weren't counselors, they weren't the brightest in the bunch. They were fishermen, tax collector, zealot, someone that would eventually betray him. And Jesus kept them with him for three years.

Some of us lose our patience with someone that's in a meeting. Jesus was with these disciples the whole time. Peter could not stop putting his foot in his mouth. Thomas doubted Jesus, kept doubting him after Jesus told him what would happen three times. James and John fought over the best seat in the kingdom. While Jesus was on his way to the cross, Judas was in the table the whole time, and Jesus knew he would be the one that would betray him. If Jesus had a short fuse, none of them would have made it. And then look at the cross. He could have called angels to wipe out everyone that was mocking him. He had every right to, he had the power, he had the capacity, and yet he had enough patience to stay on the cross to finish what he came to do. Come on, can you give God a praise for the patience he had toward us? (congregation applauding) And after he was tortured, after he was flogged, after he carried the cross, after he was pinned to the tree. The Bible says in Luke 23, 34, here's what Jesus said. Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. That is the most patient sentence ever spoken on planet earth. They were killing him, he was forgiving them. The strongest person in the universe had the longest fuse in the universe. Most of us are short fused at home

and we wonder why our kids don't wanna talk to us. Most of us are short fused with our staff and we wonder why turned over so high. Most of us are short fused in our marriage and we wonder why the intimacy has gone. This issue is us, is about us in our short fuse. The world is always going to test that short fuse in you. So you have a few options, you have two actually. First one is you can go to the flesh route and say, I can't stand in anymore, I'm about to blow. The second option is you go to the spirit route and you say, hold on, maybe this is teaching me something. And I don't think this is actually a big deal. I think this might just be minor. This might be a temporary inconvenience. So I'm not going to lose it. Here's what's helped me. Patience isn't what you do while you wait. Patience is who you become while you wait. The world is brilliant in inventing things for us to waste our lives waiting on. Take Disney for example. This year, you guys know the Guardians of the Galaxy ride. Well, for those of you that don't know, it's a ride in Disney and they play during this ride, they play one out of six songs. You don't know what song they're going to play, but whatever song you get is going to be that one song throughout the whole ride. It's randomized.

Well, they decided that on September 21st of this year, they would play September the whole day. So that was the gimmick. So you knew exactly what they would play and it would be September on September 21st. That's the gimmick. It was on Monday, a school day. And so I thought who in the world would fall for that one? But if you ask me, if I remember what I did on the 21st night of September, I will tell you, but after a long day's work and after school with the kids, when the kids got home, the Tavares family raced to Disney, we got there 10 minutes before the park closed. You know the time we're on the line that says, it said three hours when we got there. You do the math. I don't even want to do it right now. It was a long time. And we got there because we got to here September, on September 21st and ride the guardians of the galaxy. Here's what was interesting about that experience. It was late. It was a long wait, but it was the smoothest wait that we've ever experienced. You know why? My kids didn't fight. They didn't say, when is this over? They didn't say, when is it gonna be our turn? They patiently waited because they knew that at the end of the line, they would be able to ride.

[BLANK_AUDIO] while riding this ride. Here's what changed. They knew exactly what they were gonna get. Therefore, their attitude was inclined to enjoy every single moment, even while they were waiting. You see, patience isn't about willpower. It's about knowing what you're going to expect to receive. It's about spirit power. The spirit produces patience, and if it is not showing up in you, the spirit is not running the show in you. You have got to go back to the source. You have got to go back to the Lord. So today, I wanna share with you three ways on developing patience. Are you ready? Let's go. Number one is to see God as patient. Before you can grow patience, you have to see it. You have to look at someone that has it, and can I tell you it's not me. I'm gonna point you to the Lord. We throw that phrase around like God is patient. We throw that phrase around all the time. But do we actually understand what it means? I didn't really get it myself. See, patience in God is not passive.

It's not God sitting up there in heaven with his hands crossed, just relaxing, saying, I wonder when I'm gonna get involved in this person's life. No. His patience is active. It's intentional. It's the decision of the most powerful being in the universe, holding back what he has every right to release. Here's what second Peter 3.9 says, 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. That is the same macro through me of Paul uses in Galatians chapter five. Long anger, long fuse. The character of God has been long fused since before you were born. And here is what makes this incredible. God sees everything, yet loves endlessly. He sees everything, every sin, every betrayal. Every time you said you would do better and didn't, every time someone hurt someone innocent and didn't get immediate justice, he sees the full picture, which means he also holds the full right to respond. And he is still patient. His patience is not weakness.

Don't get it twisted. His patience is mercy with a mission. He is holding the door open as long as he can so that he doesn't lose not one single soul. Now think about what it looks like for God to be patient with you specifically. He washed you walk away. He washed you choose yourself over him, not once, twice, but hundreds of times, sometimes thousands of times. He gave you talent and you used it for your own glory. He gave you time and you spent it on everything else, except for him. He gave you a body and you treated it like it was your own. He gave you relationships and you damaged them with every version of impatience you can display. And he is still here. He is still patient. He is still pursuing you when you see that about God, you realize you're not the patient one in the relationship. See, some of us are like, when they ask you, hey, how are you doing? Oh, you know how it is. I'm just waiting on the Lord. I'm being patient with God. You're not the patient one, the relationship he is. He's the patient one. You can't learn patience from a strategy. You learn patience from seeing your savior. Look at the cross, look at Jesus hanging there,

praying for the people, killing him. Look at your own story and count how many times he should have walked away, but he didn't. There are moments where you should, you ought to just remember that before you were saved, how lost you were, how much of a mess you were. But he had so much patience with you that he drew you closer to him. The patience you need for your spouse, for your kids, for your coworkers, for your own slow growth, it starts with him. We're the God who is the most patient in the universe and who has pointed every bit of that patience toward you. Come on, who's grateful for the patience of God over their life? Here's number two. On developing patients, it's to practice patients with the little things, huh? It's all about the little things. Patients that develop when you start practicing it in the small things, the microwave, the traffic, the long checkout line, start there. Take those 30 seconds, and instead of tapping your foot, breathe. Tell yourself, this is not an inconvenience. This is character building. The spirit is building something in me right now. Spiritual fruit grows through tough situations. The most, not the easy ones. The difficult moments are not interruptions to your growth.

They are your growth. Here is what actually happens in an impatient moment. Something triggers you. A tone, a slow driver, a kid who didn't listen after three times, a text message that hits wrong. And between the trigger and your response, there's a gap, a fraction of a second. That gap is where patients live. Patients is not a feeling. It's a choice, it's a choice that happens in a split second before you blow it. That's why, in James, which by the way, is your memory verse for this week. Chapter one verse 19 says, "Everyone should be quick to listen, "slow to speak, and slow to become angry." Three commands, quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to become angry. Most of us have those completely reversed, don't we though? We're quick to speak, quick to become angry, and we rarely listen. James says, flip the order, because when you flip the order, your relationships flip with it. So what do we do? Patients is formed when we pause and pray. The spirit fills that gap. We take 30 seconds and breathe. You have that one moment where, instead of reacting out of irritation,

you ask yourself, is it worth it to lose it? What's actually happening here? Isn't this minor? And nine times out of 10, the spirit will tell you, this is not the hill to die on. Relax. Local Proverbs 14, 29 says, "Whoever is patient has great understanding, "but one who is quick-tempered displays folly." The Bible calls a quick-tempered person. You know what the Bible calls it? Foolish. Not passionate, not driven, foolish, because quick-tempered people have a habit of making things worse. They damage what they're trying to protect. They push away the people that love them the most. So don't wait for the big moment. Start with the small ones. I'll be transparent with you. I've struggled through a circumstance that is recurring in my life. It's when I'm usually in the front, in the light driving, and the light turns green, and the person in front of me is on their phone. (congregation laughing) And here's how God has dealt with me in this area. 'Cause I didn't know how to respond, and I responded the wrong way in the past.

But how I respond is I respond with what's called a Christian hunk. (congregation laughing) Here's where the Christian hunk isn't. A Christian hunk isn't. (congregation laughing) Those are fighting words. Those are, I'm about to get out of my car. (congregation laughing) A Christian hunk. Here's what it sounds like. Man, I see so many of you leaning in, like. (congregation laughing) Let's go and sit. Here's what it sounds like. Beep beep. (congregation laughing) It's almost like it's saying hello. (congregation laughing) And I follow it up. Sometimes I follow it up with a wave. Beep beep, and if they look back. (congregation laughing) I'll do a wave or I'll do a thumbs up. Beep beep. This is a finger to use. (congregation laughing) Don't, no other finger, you use this one. (congregation laughing) All right, so let me be transparent with you.

I have been the person that has been distracted before when the light turned green. Why am I saying this? Because when you're about to lose your patience with a person, ask yourself. And if he has, maybe I should extend the same patience that God showed me toward this specific person. You guys ready for number three? - Yes. - All right, here's the last one. It's to pray for people, pray for people. Pray for the people you are least patient with. I do this, I pray for people that hurt me. Maybe you should pray for people that hurt you, pray for co-workers, pray for family members that have offended you, pray for neighbors, pray for them. If you lack patience with someone, pray for them. Prayer not only changes the person you're praying for, prayer changes you. When you pray for someone, you are forced to place them in God's hand. I love this, because sometimes with us, we think that we're responsible to act and we're responsible to change the other person. Maybe you're just responsible to pray for them. Maybe you're just responsible to submit them to the Lord. If you lack patience with someone, pray for them. So, here's a practical ask for this week for you. Is write down the name of one person you have been the least patient with.

Maybe it's someone in your home. Maybe it's someone at work, whoever it is. And this week, before you interact with them, here's what you'll do. You'll pray for them. Not a long prayer, but a real prayer. God, you love this person, help me too. Or this, God, I pray for Karen. Give me patience to love them the way you love them. Give me a long fuse and an overflow of grace. Develop patience in me. In Jesus' name, amen. And maybe that person is yourself, because patience is not what you do while you wait. Patience is who you become while you wait. And the one who has been the most patient with you has everything you need to help you be patient with someone else. I'll close with this. Let's talk about food for a second, 'cause some of you get angry and you guys just lose your patience when it comes to food. Think about a fast food restaurant. You pull up, you order, and a few minutes later, someone hands you a bag through a window, and if it takes seven minutes, you lose it. What is going on in there? It's just the cheeseburger. That's fast food. Fast food is fast, because spoiler alert, it's already made.

It was made before you got there. It was made for anybody. Nobody back in the kitchen of the fast food restaurant knows your name. You know what they know? They know that you're number 47. In fact, sometimes the food tastes like number 47. Now think about a really nice restaurant, though. Clock, napkins, a menu with no pictures. Words you can't pronounce. Oftentimes, the value is higher, so you sit down. Nobody rushes you. In fact, they'll probably say you can stay as long as you'd like. They bring you water without you asking for it. They bring you bread, you order, and then you wait. And then you wait. And then you wait. I have never been in a fancy restaurant where someone loses it. Lean's on the side of their chair and says, "Where's my steak at?" You know why? Because waiting is a part of the meal. There's an expectation that, "Hey, I am supposed to wait." Some of you know where I'm getting with this. Because someone in the kitchen knows exactly what you need based off of your order. You see, everyone that did something significant in your Bible had to wait.

He did not wear the crown until he was 30, 15 years of waiting, but God saw him waiting. Joseph had a dream at 17. He didn't see it fulfilled until he was 30, 13 years of waiting, but God saw him waiting. Abraham was promised a son at 75. He didn't hold that boy until he was 100, 25 years of waiting, but God saw him waiting. You know what Isaiah 40, 31 says? They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up on wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Whatever you're waiting for, right now, I wanna encourage you with something that has really helped me to wait in tough situations and seasons. Here it is, realizing that God will wait with you. You're waiting on a spouse, God will wait with you. You are waiting on a miracle, let me tell you, God will wait with you. You're waiting on a healing, some issues with health. Can I tell you, God will wait with you. You're waiting on a son or a daughter or a spouse, a friend that has not accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior over their life and you're just praying for them, you're waiting for them. Let me tell you, God will wait with you. The delay is not a denial. Your waiting is a workshop where God is building you up

to all that you are supposed to be so that when you step into that season, you are ready, God's plan is worth waiting because his timing is perfect. It's perfect. Come on, can you praise God because it's timing is perfect, because he's with us in the waiting. Because we don't have to wait alone. Because he will be holding your hand as you wait. And you know what will be sweet? Not just when you step into that next season and you say, ah, I finally am here, no more waiting. You know what will just be a sweet? Is you looking back and remembering the moments that God was holding your hand through it all? While you were waiting. Many of you are waiting on some tough things, some serious things, and it's painful. And you're struggling through it. And I'd love to pray for you because I know that God will hold your hand through all of it. So if there's something you're struggling with, just have that in your heart and mind right now as we come to the Lord, Lord, we thank you so much. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your compassion and your grace and your love and your mercy toward us. And right now as we present something that we've struggled to be patient with, something that we're waiting for.

Lord, may you build whatever needs to be built in us. And may you be with us in the waiting. May you give us a peace and an understanding. May we learn to rely on you even in the rough patches for you are a loving God and we're excited to see what you will do in our life. In Jesus' name, amen. I wanna speak to the person that hasn't accepted Jesus' Lord and Savior over their life. And you've been trying to do it on your own. Let me tell you, God has been so patient with you. You see, God has a plan over your life, but sin has separated you from the Lord. The good news is is that your Heavenly Father loves you so much that He sent and has only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for your sins. And Jesus didn't stay dead. On the third day, He rose from the dead. He conquered sin and death. And the Bible declares that whosoever accepts Him as Lord and Savior will have eternal life, a relationship with their Heavenly Father. And today is your day of salvation. He's been so patient with you. to raise your hand. I'd love to pray for you as you take this step and make him Lord and Savior over your life. One, two, three. Come on, raise your hand if you want to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. I see those hands praise God. See so many hands here. Go ahead and slip your hand down and say this prayer with me. Come on church, can we say it with them? Say, Dear Jesus, today I repent of my sin. Today I choose to follow you and make

you Lord and Savior over my life. In Jesus' name, amen. Come on church, can we celebrate those that gave their life to Christ for celebrating with you? Well, thank you so much for watching Radio Church YouTube channel. Don't forget if you haven't already done so, subscribe to this channel. Right now you can click the button so you don't miss anything. You can support the ministry by sharing this message with a friend or by clicking the give now button that you see on your screen so that we can continue to see lives changed for Jesus. Thanks for watching. The best is yet to come. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)