Although Jesus
did not say much about patience directly, his life is the greatest example of
living prayerfully and patiently.
Once Jesus
taught his disciples about their need to “always pray and not give up”
(Luke 18:1). He reminded them that patience and persistence are the keys to
getting what you need in life – if your patience and persistence are directed
towards God. Because Jesus knew God to be a loving Father, he lived on the
basis of “asking” for the things he needed. “Ask and you will receive”
is the spiritual approach to life that Jesus modeled clearly. The process of
asking and receiving both teaches and demands patience!
Because life
is full of both difficult circumstances and people, we have an unending need
for patience. Yet patience is never produced “in the heat of the moment” (which,
of course, is when we need it!) but comes from previous successes or failures
at attempting patience. Those who want to learn from Jesus will pay attention
to his way of showing patience and will notice how he is working to develop
patience in our lives.
In difficult
circumstances, Jesus relied on prayer and his knowledge of God’s faithfulness
to see him through. Sometimes God delivered Jesus, like the time he walked
through the hostile crowd that intended to throw him off a cliff at the edge of
Nazareth (Luke 4:29-30); but sometimes Jesus was not delivered from his
difficult circumstances, like the time he went to the cross, despite praying
for it to be removed from his life. In all difficult situations Jesus was
patient and obedient to the will of his Father.
With
difficult people, Jesus was patient, hoping to promote repentance and growth in
their lives. Jesus was patient with Simon Peter as he moved from impetuous to
mature. Jesus was patient with John as he learned to trade “thunder” for love.
Jesus was patient with Paul as he grew from persecutor of the church to apostle
to the Gentiles. Jesus is patient with you as you are learning to walk with
him. Jesus is always willing to patiently encourage people who are seeking to
grow.
Paul once said,
“Love is patient…” He learned this from the patience that Jesus showed
to him. He also learned to imitate Jesus in showing patience. To the church in Ephesus
Peter once
said, “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.” (2 Peter 3:9) This is the
desire of God – that everyone has the time to grow to the point that they
desire repentance and salvation. His strategy is that he will be patient with
people, encouraging and prompting them to righteousness. Because he is patient
with us, he calls us to, in turn, be patient with others. Patience leads to
salvation, both for us and for others.
- Kenny Payne
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