Patient– able to accept or tolerate delays without problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious. Persevering in the face of delay.
What does real patience look like? What does being patient mean?
Based on the definition of patience, I am not a patient man. I am not a patient person. I struggle to wait or accept delays when it comes to things I want. I usually will go do whatever I can to go get that thing. And when I do have to wait, I don’t do it without suffering or becoming annoyed or anxious. Now this is based on the definition from the dictionary, so what does Godly patience look like? I will tell you what I have learned it is not…
It is not just simply giving up and sitting around until things change or until God gives you what you want. It is more about waiting on the Lord to speak. To have patience upon the Lord and when He speaks, “Be a person, a man, or a woman of honor and faith” then putting it into action. I know for me I do not do this. I allow myself to become anxious or annoyed and build problems and complain. I make things more difficult all because I don’t have the patience I need. Maybe it is because of the “American” culture or it is just a struggle I have, but I like making my own timelines and going and getting the things I want.
Now, that may not always be a bad thing. But what if Papa has told me patience, and I do not follow through? What if I still try to make what I want happen?
This is where I am at right now. The Race is coming to an end and the questions of what is next are being asked. Papa has given me some ideas and some words, but the word I struggle with the most is Patience. Papa keeps telling me, “be patient.” At first, I thought that meant just wait until the end of the month or even the end of the Race, which is feasible. It is only a month or two away, but that is not what He is asking. He is asking me to have faith that He has it all worked out and I need to not worry about what is next or how this is going to happen because He has it already. I need to be patient and quit trying to take control of my life. I need to wait upon the Lord WITH the Lord. There are times we think that waiting upon the Lord (at least for me) is literally waiting for the next big thing in a solitary room. But we (I) forget to actually wait with Him. Go to Him and be in His presence. If I want to learn how to play baseball, am I just going to sit in a room and hope it happens? NO!! I am going to find a great baseball player/ coach and learn from them. Then why not do the same when it comes to life? Why do I not go to the Father to find out what is next, even if that means just sitting waiting with Him?
See I have it my head I need to be a man of action. But I forget or have not realized that going to the Lord and waiting is action. It is the action of a Godly man. Being a man of action does not always mean or equal going and doing what Papa tells us. It could be just coming to the Father. Is that not action? Is that not what we (I) should do before anything? And then the hardest part is do I have the humility and patience to wait (action) for Papa to speak or reveal what is next?
Why is this something I should do as a man, and as a man of God?
Because is that not what God has done for me and for you? He made a way for us to have a relationship with Him, but He does not force us into relationship. He patiently waits on us to make the choice to have that relationship. See He demonstrates the patience I must have or I desire to have. He is patient with me, therefore, I must be patient with Him. And I must have the faith or confidence that what I hope for will actually happen. – Hebrews 11:1
This is a quality of a man of God. This is a quality of God. This is a quality I want to have. This is what Papa is showing me and teaching me right now.
My challenge is to go a actually wait with the Lord. Men Lead in this way! Go to Papa and be with Papa for everything. Think of the change this could cause in our culture, if men began with Papa first and let that direct them.
