Chapter 13 – The Sweet Fruit of Patience

Summary

Patience is very underrated but key to living the Christian life. Patience will allow you to enjoy your life and give you freedom from the cares of the world. It comes from hearing the right message and continuing in it. We need to understand how patience works to live the Christian life going forward. 

Outline

• Patience is important. One of the fruits of the spirit. Don’t hear much about it because people don’t want to hear about it. 
• It’s not about denying that certain things are going on, it’s just your cares will not be on the things of the world. There is no better way to wait for something then to not even be aware that you are waiting for it. 
• Detention in school example – focusing on the clock just made it seem so much longer. Need to be able to get your mind off of what you want and rest in what you have.
• Babies on a schedule example – they develop patience because they know even thought they may be hungry, their parents will be feeding them soon. Otherwise they’d throw tantrums every time their hungry. 
• Me watching Michael Jordan growing up – in awe of him because he was so great at what he did. God is great at what He does and what He does is bring life. If you can rest in Him long enough you can get to a place where you’ll be in awe of Him and His doing. 
• The biggest factor to you having patience is only hearing a message of God and his grace. If you’re hearing a mixed message you’ll be tempted with the cares of the world and be running around like Martha. Relax! God’s got this.

Scriptures

• John 10:10
• Galatians 5:22
• Luke 10:38-42

Questions

1. What does patience allow you to do?
2. How does the example of babies being on a schedule show us about the heart of God for us and help us develop patience?
3. Think about somebody you know who is really good at what they do. How does that compare to how good God is at what He does? How does this help us develop patience?
4. Have you ever experienced being mesmerized by something that God did in your life? Meditate on that and share with your group.
5. What is the biggest factor to you having patience?
6. What are some things that lead to you being impatient?
7. How important do you think patience is in your life? 
8. What does a life without patience look like to you? Can you see how one with patience is superior? How so?
9. How does the scripture John 10:10 encourage you and give you patience?
10. What are some practical things you can do to have more patience in your life?

Chapter 13 – The Sweet Fruit of Patience

Patience is one of the fruits of the spirit, but you almost never hear any preachers talk about it. Why? Because people don’t want to hear about it. They want to hear about how they can get what they want now. They want to hear about the 3 or 5 steps to how they can use God to get the American Dream. 

Sorry if that was a little harsh, but that’s how I feel and I think people need to hear this. Trust me, I totally understand that mentality. Rather than love people and use money, I loved money and used people. But if you’re going to live a Christian life you’ll need to have patience. Shoot even if you don’t want to be a Christian you’ll need patience. Similar to the other teachings, you don’t want to try to have patience in your own willpower though. 

If you can find patience being born in you, it will allow you to enjoy where you’re at while you get where you’re going. It’s not about denying that certain things are going on, it’s just your cares will not be on the things of the world. There is no better way to wait for something then to not even be aware that you are waiting for it. 

Take for example if you ever got a detention when you were in school. If you just sat and looked at the clock the whole time the time went by so slow because that’s what you were focused on. But if you could do your schoolwork or take a nap the time would go by without you even noticing. That’s the kind of effect knowing God can have on your life. You’ll just be going through life enjoying one day at a time and before you know it either things will happen that you always wanted to happen (new job, relationship, etc.) or you’ll just forget about those other things altogether.

I mentioned this previously but remember the concept of the best thing for babies is getting them on a schedule. This way they know when they will eat, sleep, etc. If they are on a schedule for when they will eat their meals, they don’t just start crying every time they’re hungry. They know that even though they may be hungry, that their parents are going to feed them soon, so they don’t worry about being fed. They have patience when they’re on a schedule but it’s because they know of their parents’ goodness towards them. It’s not because they just will themselves to have patience. 

When I was growing up my favorite sport was basketball. I’m from Detroit and grew up in the 90’s. During that time there was a big rivalry between the Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls. The Chicago Bulls had a superstar on their team during this time. You may have heard of him, his name is Michael Jordan. Well you can only imagine the heartbreak I felt many times watching him beat my team and become who many believe is the greatest basketball player of all-time. But I found something else happening while I was watching him many times. Even though I hated that my team was losing, I would be in awe of many things he would do. My point in telling this story is how we can be mesmerized by watching somebody who is really good at what they do. Well God is really good at what He does and what He does is give life. 

Whatever your situation is, God can bring life to it. If you’re frustrated with your job or don’t have a job and want one, God can bring life to your job status. If you’re upset because you want to get married and all your friends are getting married but you don’t even have a boyfriend or girlfriend, God can bring life to your relationship status. If you’re feeling fearful because of a health situation, God can bring life to your health status. God knows what is best for you and wants what is best for you even more than you do. I know sometimes we feel like we just wish God would love us a little less so we can get what we want right now even though it’s not best for us. Just hang in there. God is not just bringing life to that situation; He’s bringing abundant life (John 10:10). 

The biggest factor to you having patience is only hearing a message of God and his grace. If you’re hearing a mixed message, you’ll be tempted with the cares of the world and be running around like Martha. It’s like if you’re invited to dinner at a guest’s house. They tell you to just relax and enjoy the dinner, but after the dinner is done you’ll be wanting to get up and help. The host (God) just wants you to sit and enjoy the meal, but because you’re hearing a mixed message you won’t be able to enjoy it because you’ll feel condemned that you’re not doing enough or that you haven’t earned it. Once again, only hear a message about God and His grace. It’s the one thing you need to have patience. 

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