Don’t Rush Me!
Summary: God says: Love is patient. Love deals with a late bus, slow people, annoying people, persecution and much more; without complaining. This article discusses patience.
God says, “Love is patient” (1 Cor 13). Patient means:
To endure affliction with calmness. to be tolerant, understanding, suffering long.
Love doesn’t rush and push people to move faster because of our impatience. Even if these people are selfishly moving too slow (being inconsiderate of others), Love doesn’t make a fuse – Love stays calm. Love tries to understand the situation, Love continues to suffer the wait.
Do you rush your kids to be more mature than the rate they are growing. What about the faults of your spouse, your neighbors? If these people are truly trying to change – be patient with them, they’ll get there. Pushing some people tends to leave them resentful and that only adds to their problem. Instead of rushing someone, how about encouraging them, and understanding why they are moving so slow (in your opinion). Find out how to help them – but don’t rush them.
Abandoning a difficult child because he/she is too hard to deal with may be a sign of your impatience. Abandoning a child will show your lack of love for them – in their eyes, you gave up on them. If you would’ve stayed just a little longer and tolerated their mess – you would’ve begun to see a change.
For all those who strive to be like Jesus, you have experienced persecution. I’m learning to deal with ill-treatment from people who claim to be Christians. I don’t try to avoid it, I face it, head on – knowing that enduring suffering is patience. I’m learning not to spas-out and return evil for evil. Persecution is what Jesus went through and so must we. We must accept it and rejoice in it (as crazy as that sounds, but that’s what James 1:2-4 and Matthew 5:11-12 says). Love doesn’t bite back at our oppressors.
Love deals with the noisy neighbors, their crying kids, a late bus, the elderly in traffic, waiting on a slow landlord to fix something, a pizza service who claims to be “hot and ready” (but really makes you wait 15 minutes). How do you respond to such things? Do you flip-out, get an attitude, beep your horn at that old white lady, yell at the waiter, punch the bullet-proof plexiglass at the pizza joint? Let’s be patient.
If you’re not patient with people, you don’t love them. If you don’t love people, you don’t love God (Jn 14:15, Matt 22:39, Jn 14:23-24). God is very patient with us – so he commands us to be the same with everyone else. How long has God tolerated your sin and disrespect for his laws and commandments (Romans 9:22)? Be patient with others because God is patient with you.
How to be patient:
- Think about God’s mercy and patience when he deals with you and your sins.
- Ask the Holy Spirit for the power to be patient (Galatians 5:22).
- Learn to wait and see the fruit of your wait.
- Meditate on scriptures about patience.
Scripture Meditation:
- Proverbs 14:29
A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly. - Romans 12:12
Let your hope make you glad. Be patient in time of trouble and never stop praying. - Romans 15:1
If our faith is strong, we should be patient with the Lord’s followers whose faith is weak. We should try to please them instead of ourselves. - Romans 15:5
God is the one who makes us patient and cheerful. I pray that he will help you live at peace with each other, as you follow Christ. - 1 Corinthians 4:12
We work hard with our own hands, and when people abuse us, we wish them well. When we suffer, we are patient.
As you exercise patience, you will be put in situations where you will be tested. Remember, this is a time to show your patience and the love of God for your neighbors. When we love our neighbors, we show our love for God and God is pleased.
