A man was walking through a supermarket with a
screaming baby in the shopping cart.
A woman nearby noticed that time and again the man
would calmly say: “Keep calm, Albert. Keep calm,
Albert.”Finally, in admiration for the man’s patience
as the child continued to wail, the woman walked up
to him and said: “Sir, I must commend you for your
patience with baby Albert.”
To which the man replied, You don’t understand, I am
Albert!”
As we continue our series on the Fruit of the
Spirit, Character Counts, we are going to be
talking about patience today?
The Bible has a lot to say about patience, so if my
sermon goes a little long, I hope you will have
patience with me! JK
Have you ever told someone that your patience
was wearing thin? I heard someone say they
wished they were as thin as their patience!
What happens when somebody pushes your buttons?
When people say or do something that aggravates you
do you get agitated and angry and blow up – lose your
temper – scream? yell? throw things? hit things?...
2 | Page
OR… do you remain calm and quiet… do you show
understanding and sympathy? Do you try to put
yourself in the other person’s shoes and put their
needs before your own? Do you make it about helping
them instead of getting your needs met… NOW!
As we come to the fourth fruit of the spirit, I confess
that I, like most of you, struggle with this one. I
mean, I may not be as impatient as some people, but
I still find that my “breaking point” arrives just a
little too soon all too often. And I’ve also discovered
that while there are some things that I can be pretty
patient about, there are other things that much too
quickly “push my buttons”.
We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: The
Fruit of the Spirit can only come from the Holy Spirit’s
work in our lives, producing His character in us. He
alone is the source and supplier of patience because
He is the God of all patience.
I just need to stop here and make an important point:
He is the God of all patience! He is a patient God.
6 times in Bible God described as “slow to anger”
[2Pe 3:9 NIV] 9 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.
3 | Page
The Golden Rule tells us to “do unto others as you
would have them do unto you.” I think God would
ask us to do toward others as HE HAS DONE
TOWARDS US - be patient with others, as God is
being patient with us.
But understand this patience is the by-product of
us being filled with the Spirit.
Only as we are filled with the Spirit, and stay
connected to the vine will we be able to know and
experience His patience.
Here’s a definition that seems to capture the biblical
meaning: “Patience is a calm endurance based on the
certainty that God is in control.”
It’s not easy to be patient, is it? There are at least 2
reasons why ...
1. It goes against human nature. From the moment
we’re born we want things taken care of right away.
When a baby wakes up in the middle of the night and
is hungry, it doesn’t lie there and think, “I know mom
and dad are tired so I’ll just wait until breakfast
time.” No, the baby cries impatiently until it receives
the attention it demands
2. It’s contrary to our culture. Those of you who have
traveled to other countries recognize that Americans
4 | Page
are wound pretty tight – Having been in several Latin
countries I’ve learned the meaning of … “manana” -
or Eastern Standard Time, Central Standard Time, and
Hispanic Standard time (30 minutes late...). Except
when it comes to traffic. You’ve never heard car
horns blow until you go into a large South American
city… (I mean they start blowing their horns even
before the light turns completely green…)
That reminds me of the man whose car had stalled in
heavy traffic just as the light turned green. As he
frantically tried to get his car started, he was greeted
by a chorus of honking horns and angry faces. He
finally got out of his car, walked back to the driver
behind him and said, “I’m sorry but I can’t seem to
get my car started. If you’ll go up there and give it a
try, I’ll stay here and honk the horn for you.”
I believe that most of us struggle most in patience in
2 areas of our lives.
1. Dealing with God
2. Dealing with People
1. Patience with God
John Piper says that impatience is a form of
unbelief. It’s what we begin to feel when we start to
doubt the wisdom of God’s timing or the goodness of
his guidance. We’re sitting behind the wheel but feel
5 | Page
like we’re not going anywhere. As a result, anger
builds, leaving a path of destruction in our
relationships.
Catch that: We’re upset with God… impatient with
God… but we take it out on the people around us.
The battle with impatience can erupt while standing
in line at the grocery store, or it can boil over when
we’re faced with a health problem, job stress, or
family friction.
There are two decisions we need to make when it
comes to having patience with God:
• First, We can choose to wait for God where we
are…and not give up. Instead of bailing, God wants to
use His waiting room to build us up.
“They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their
strength…”
"Patience is a virtue that carries a lot of WAIT!!!" -
Unknown
• Second, We can determine to go at His pace…and
not speed up. Rather than being reckless or impulsive
by taking things into our own hands, the fruit of
patience helps us to trust God’s timing.
6 | Page
Psalm 130:5-6 helps us see the correlation between
the promises of God and the patience of the believer:
“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I
put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than
watchmen wait for the morning.”
In the midst of waiting, the psalmist finds hope in
“God’s Word.” When we put our hope in the Word of
God, we will see the fruit of patience ripen in our
lives. Practically speaking, we develop patience when
we claim the promises in the Bible. When you feel
like giving up, or when you feel yourself wanting to
take things into your own hands, then grab hold of the
hope that comes through Scripture. Read it. Memorize
it. Write out a verse and meditate on it.
Listen to Romans 15:4 in the Living Bible: “These
things that were written in the Scriptures so long ago
are to teach us patience and to encourage us…”
We become impatient with God when we don’t
understand the purpose of God’s delays.
We face a difficult problem and we pray and
we want God to do something NOW!
Fix the problem! Work a miracle! Change that
person!
7 | Page
And yet nothing changes, so we get angry and
impatient with God.
Do you remember Paul talking about praying 3
times regarding his “thorn in the flesh” and
yet God didn’t take it away: Instead, he said,
[2Co 12:9 NIV] 9 But he said to me, "My grace
is sufficient for you, for my power is made
perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all
the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that
Christ's power may rest on me.
Last week we were talking about joy…
[Jas 1:2-4 NKJV] 2 My brethren, count it all joy when
you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing
of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience
have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and
complete, lacking nothing.
So, here’s the deal. God is patient with us, and He
asks us to be patient with Him. Because He is not just
interested in your momentary happiness; He is
interested in your character development!
And like the child who impatiently wants mom to take
the cake out of the oven NOW, mom says, No son, we
have to be patient – if we take it out now it will be
ruined, but if we wait it will be good.
8 | Page
Trust God. Wait on the Lord. Be still and Know that
He is God. Trust the process.
Song: He’s still working on me; to make me what I
oughta be. It took Him just a week to make the moon
and the stars, the sun and the earth and Jupiter and
Mars. How loving and patient He must be; He’s still
working on me.
2. Patience with People
One side of developing patience is to work at waiting
on God. Another aspect of seeing this fruit ripen in
our lives is found as we develop patience with the
people in our lives.
[Col 3:12 NLT] 12 Since God chose you to be the holy
people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with
tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness,
and patience.
This past week I read about a first-grade teacher who
was having a difficult day. It had rained that entire
day and the children couldn’t go out for recess, so
they got more and more restless and hyperactive as
the day wore on. The teacher couldn’t wait for the
bell to ring at 3 o’clock. About 2:45 she saw it was
9 | Page
still raining, and so she decided to start getting the
kids ready for dismissal. She sorted out their boots
and raincoats and started helping get them on.
Finally, they were ready to go, all except for one
little boy whose boots were just too small for his feet.
There were no zippers or straps, and it took every last
ounce of strength she had to get them on. When at
last she did get them on, she straightened up with a
sigh of relief. That’s when the little boy looked down
at his feet and said, "Teacher, you know what? These
boots aren’t mine!"
She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but
being the good teacher she was, she smiled bravely
and started taking them off. And they were harder to
get off than they were to put on. She yanked and
tugged until finally the boots were off. That’s when
the little boy smiled at her and said, "They’re not my
boots, but they’re my sister’s, and I got to wear
them!"
Proverbs 14:9 says that, “A patient man has great
understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays
folly.”
It’s wise to be patient but it’s foolish to be hot
tempered. The Greek word for patience means to be
slow to get angry, or to have a long fuse and a short
10 | Page
memory. Unfortunately, some of us have a short fuse
and long memory.
Patience literally means “wrath that is put far away.”
If the Spirit controls us, fits of rage can be put far
away. Patient people are hard to provoke. Their
temper can absorb a lot before they “lose it.”.
Illustration: Here’s one I am sure you can relate to.
You’re in a hurry to get somewhere and your wife or
girlfriend, or kids don’t share your sense of urgency.
There you are waiting at the door or in the car for
them to get ready to go. Now what are you
experiencing inside? Are you peacefully watching the
wind blow the flowers gently back and forth in the
garden?
Or are you in a somewhat different frame of mind?
Frustrated and Fuming? Thinking up the “speech” you
are about to unleash…
Or… Do you find yourself asking, "What is more
important, being late, or the people I am waiting for?"
OR… how about this one. You are in a hurry; running
late for a meeting and an elderly person is driving 10
MPH below the speed limit in front of you. What do
you do? Do you blow the horn? Tailgate? Make hand
11 | Page
gestures? Or do you imagine that person as your
grandfather or grandmother, and feel compassion for
them?
You know that “Waiting Room” in the Hospital or Dr’s
office… We should rename it the “Character Building
Room”
Or how do you treat the waiter in the restaurant who
is struggling with your order, or the host when it
seems to be taking too long? Can you imagine them
as your son or daughter who might be having a bad
day? or do you “give them a piece of your mind”?
(Some of us need to be careful… we’ve already given
away far too much…)
Maybe we ought to ask them if there’s anything we
can pray with them about, and be a witness for
Christ…
You might be amazed at what God gives you when you
peacefully wait rather than stress out and get angry.
Maybe it’s a spiritual opportunity that you would not
have otherwise had.
As we’ve been learning, the fruit of the spirit is both
a gift and a task. These Christ-like character qualities
come to us as a result of grace and they also get built
12 | Page
into our lives as a result of some choices that we
make. Here are some Scriptural steps that you can
use to clothe yourself with patience.
1. Look at annoying people through the eyes of
Jesus. Philippians 2:3: “Do nothing out of selfish
ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider
others better than yourselves.”
I read that a couple of times and let it sink in. Wow…
Really? In HUMILITY consider others BETTER THAN
yourselves. Now, remember, we are talking about
‘annoying’ people – people who push our buttons and
get on our nerves. But as a Spirit led believer, I must
learn to have the humility to consider them better
than myself.
Illustration: A train was filled with tired people. Most
of them had spent the day traveling through the hot
dusty plains and at last evening had come and they all
tried to settle down for a good night’s sleep.
However, at one end of the car a man was holding a
tiny baby and as night came on the baby became
restless and started screaming at the top of its lungs.
Unable to take it any longer, a big brawny man spoke
for the rest of the group. “Why don’t you take that
baby to its mother?”
There was a moment’s pause and then came the
13 | Page
reply. “I’m sorry. I’m doin’ my best. The baby’s
mother is in the casket in the baggage car in front of
us.” There was an awkward silence for a couple
minutes. Then the big man who asked the cruel
question got out of his seat and moved toward the
man with the motherless child. He apologized for his
impatience and insensitivity. He took the tiny baby in
his own arms and told the tired father to get some
sleep. Then in loving patience he cared for the little
baby all through the night.
If we could just see people like Jesus does, we’d be
much less impatient and much more tolerant. Instead
of putting others in their place, try putting
yourself in their place.
2. Learn from patient people. Anger is contagious.
When you get it out, others pick it up. Proverbs
22:24-25: “Do not make friends with a hot-tempered
man, do not associate with one easily angered, or you
may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared.” If we
can learn how to be angry by hanging out with angry
people, then we can learn patience by spending time
with those who are long-suffering.
An author for Reader’s Digest wrote about how he
studied Amish people in preparation for an article
about them. In his observation at the schoolyard, he
14 | Page
noted that the children never screamed or yelled.
This amazed him. He asked the principal why Amish
kids don’t seem to get angry. The principal replied,
“Well, have you ever heard an Amish adult yell?”
Friends, if anger is a learned behavior, then we can
unlearn it by spending time with patient people.
3. Release your anger appropriately. Ephesians
4:26 says, “In your anger do not sin.” That means that
there are right ways and wrong ways to process anger.
It’s possible to be angry and not sin and it’s also
possible to be “torqued” and transgress.
There are three possible options in responding to
anger, and the first two don’t work.
• Suppress it. That’s when we ignore it or stuff it.
• Express it. blowing up or “venting” Proverbs 29:11:
“A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man
keeps himself under control.”
• Confess it. When you’re angry, admit it to yourself,
own it before God, and then confess it to the person
you’re mad at.
4. Get ready to go through some hard times. James
1:3: “Because we know that the testing of your faith
develops perseverance.” There’s no way around this
truth: we learn how to be patient by having problems.
15 | Page
The story is told about a young Christian who went to
an older believer for some prayer because he wanted
to become more patient. They knelt down together
and the older man began to pray, “Lord, send this
young man tribulation for breakfast, problems for
lunch and suffering for supper.”
Conclusion: Musicians Come
One final thing…
5. Rely on God’s help. Patience is at the very heart
of God’s nature.
Psalm 145:8: “The Lord is gracious and
compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.” Get
to know Him better because the fruit of patience is
rooted in God Himself.
