Day 14
Patience
What Is Impatience?
To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
Romans 8:6
Impatience is the outpouring of your interrupted or unfulfilled desires, hopes, and dreams. It is a fruit of the flesh. And it’s probably so much a part of your life that you don’t even recognize it. But even if you don’t recognize it, you live with its symptoms on a daily basis. Your short temper, boredom, resentment, restlessness, nervousness, neuroses, complaining, taking control—they all are gifts of your impatience. So impatience isn’t just a minor inconvenience or a personality flaw, but it’s a response to a self-obsessed mind that is more consumed with what you want than with what God wants. Ouch! Sorry if that hurt you as much as it hurt me. I hate my own impatience, and I hate what it says about my allegiances. You see, I pledge allegiance not to the flag but to myself most of the time. My allegiance, my devotion, and my loyalty firmly rest with myself in every situation when I’m guided by my flesh. There may be times when I think about others first, but those are only because deep down I know they will benefit me. And so impatience smothers my life in self-interest and self-obsession.
When I set my mind on my flesh, I am impatient because I have so little power over the world around me. So many things can go wrong, and so many people disagree with me. But in the end, not only do they suffer because of my unkindness and anger, but I suffer as well because of the things that impatience does to my mind, emotions, and body. If you struggle with impatience-based illnesses or sins, then you know what I’m talking about. Complaining is the most obvious sin associated with impatience and is a sure sign of a devotion to the flesh that trumps your devotion to God. Complaining accuses God by criticizing the world in which he has put you. When you complain, either through words or sulky actions, your focus is off of God and onto the things of the flesh, and this, according to God’s Word, leads to death. You might feel that sting of death as you see a world around you that is out of control and the world within you that mimics it.
At the root of all the trouble is a desire to take control. This form of impatience shows up in our nervous and neurotic actions and emotions. These impatient responses to God’s plans in your life destroy your relationships, make you unbearable to be around, and cloud your emotions, even to the point of self-hate.
See, most of the time we do what we do in order to get life under control, and so to ease our minds and our spirits. But that’s the opposite of what happens. While searching for rest, we end up with the trouble of impatience as we build for ourselves more and more requirements that the world around us must meet. So the self-obsessed become the obsessive-compulsive, the quick and efficient become the control freaks, and the worried and fearful become the Debbie Downers of life. But all of this can be reversed if you are willing to see that these are the fruit of impatience and therefore an allegiance to your flesh. Once you have identified this problem, you can choose to walk away from it in favor of the Spirit by simply choosing to set your mind on the things of God. Each time you set your mind on the stuff of the flesh, you suffer, and that suffering builds and builds until it has control of you. But as you reject the flesh and say no to impatience, you retrain your mind to side with God, to identify with him, and ultimately to trust him. The result is a life of patience and calm that can only come through the Spirit himself.
- Think about It
In what ways does impatience show up in your life? Consider each of these categories. In what ways are you:
Short-tempered
Prone to complaining
Bored
A control freak
Filled with resentment
Restless
Nervous
Neurotic
What kinds of impatience have you discovered in your life? Would you like to be done with these symptoms?
What are some ways that you could reject your flesh and so teach it that you will no longer be its slave?
What are some ways you could listen to the Spirit on a regular basis and so get used to his voice? Consider some of the following and make plans to increase these in your life:
Prayer
Bible study
Silence
Praise
Worship
Adoration
- Look for It
Today is the day you look for the opportunity to let God interrupt you. Today is the day to let go of your plans and embrace his. Look for those chances to die to yourself by allowing God’s plans to interrupt your own.
Dear God, thank you for being in control of my life. Thank you that I don’t have to be. And thank you for giving me your Spirit who confirms that in my heart. I know you are sovereign and in control; please teach me how to act on that knowledge. Give me wisdom and give me patience as I wait for you in every situation in my life. Amen.
- Give It Up
Today, give it up—give up control. Find one place in your life where you are playing God and trying to control the world around you, and give it up to God. Lay it on the altar and run a dagger through it. Turn your life over to him without any strings attached. And trust him to make more of it than you ever could. Write down today your promise to God.