Aaaahhhhh… I knew we’d get to it, the most challenging evidence of Spiritual fruit in the list of 9 qualities that the Spirit wants to produce in our lives (Galatians 5:22)-  the fruit of the Spirit is PATIENCE!

And as every Christian knows, the last thing you ever want to pray for is patience. At least that’s what I was told growing up. Why, you ask?  Because James 1:3 says, that “the testing of your faith produces patience.” So, the conventional wisdom was, if you prayed for patience, God would give you trials because the only way to get patience is to endure testing.

I don’t have any hard evidence to back up that assertion, but I do know that Americans are impatient.  At least, I am; are you?

I think a lot of our impatience is fostered by our “instant gratification” society.  We are conditioned to expect things immediately, if not sooner. And that timeframe of expectation keeps getting shorter and shorter.  Remember when Amazon Prime first came out? For $79 a year you could get free shipping on everything with the majority of merchandise delivered in two days.  Phenomenal, miraculous!  Up until then, most mail order companies delivered in 7-10 days.  Well, now, next day or even same day shipping has becoming standard, and two days feels like a really long time. I won’t even order something from Amazon if it’s not delivered in 2 days.

These days, we don’t even have to shop for our own groceries, pickup our own takeout or prepare our own meals with services like DoorDash, Instacart and Blue Apron. It’s all right there waiting for us. Same with computers.  I used to boot up my large desktop computer and go get a cup of coffee while I was waiting or maybe take a shower or read War and Peace.  But now?  When I open the lid to my laptop, my desktop is right there where I left it, ready for the next keystroke. I’m not saying these things are bad. I’m glad we don’t have to wait. But surely this ever-increasing level of speed and convenience affects our patience quotient. With so many options and amenities at our fingertips, why wait for anything?

Also, attention spans are getting shorter. According to a recent study by Microsoft, the average human attention span is eight seconds, down from 12 seconds in the year 2000.  A goldfish’s attention span is 9 seconds. I used to say, I had the attention span of a guppy, but now I don’t even have that. Social media and smart phones feed this frenzy with the intoxicating distractions of continuous bleep, blips, notifications, banners, tweets and headlines delivered to my phone hourly. The average person checks their phone 80 times a day. With so much at our fingertips, waiting seems like an unnecessary annoyance.  No wonder we’re impatient.

The other day, Pam texted me to pick up a few things at the grocery on the way home.  I came in with the bag, set it on the counter, gave her a kiss and said, “Here ya’ go.”

She took a look and said, “Where’s the Romaine lettuce?”

“You didn’t say to get Romaine lettuce!” I protested.

“Yes, I did.” she replied. “Look at your text.”

Sure enough, right after milk and eggs was Romaine lettuce and a few other things.  And that’s not the first time this has happened. I’m so impatient I don’t even scroll down to finish reading texts from my wife.

Is this toxic or what?

But there are some things that can only be accomplished slowly: Like growing an oak tree or sipping ice-cold lemonade, making maple syrup, reading a good book or …becoming like Jesus.

I read a great quote online: “One of the dangers in the church is we expect the gifts of the Spirit to do quickly what the fruit of the Spirit is meant to do slowly.” @richvillodas

In this day of instant mash potatoes, instant grits, instant coffee and instant information, movies and communication, there’s still no such thing as an “instant disciple.”  Following Jesus and growing in grace is a long-game and can only be accomplished over a lifetime of patient obedience.

What are the implications of all of this?  Here are a few thoughts.

1. You are a work in progress… be patient, chill a bit and cut yourself some slack. The Spirit is the one producing the fruit, so trust the process and stick with it. The Enemy wants to use your impatience to discourage you and cause you to drop out.
2. Others are a work in progress, too… be patient, chill a bit and cut them some slack. I know you’ve told your kids a thousand times to __(Fill in the blank)__.  And exactly how many times has God graciously and patiently waited for you?
3. Slow down. Your frantic pace is not accomplishing more for God, it’s keeping you from hearing his voice.
4. Many, many good things happen when we wait, if we have eyes to see it.

After informing us that “the testing of our faith produces patience,” the Bible follows it up with: “But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:4 (NKJV)”

Resting in Jesus, growing in grace, trusting his timing, cultivating patience… some things are worth the wait.