Are You Patient?
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
When people discover how many children I have there are numerous responses. Some are good and some are not so good. Often times the responses leave an opening for me to share about what the Lord is accomplishing in my life. One response I often receive is this; “You must have a lot of patience to have that many children!” I have noticed by the responses of many, that people tend to think of me as a patient person. I am more patient than some I suppose but I definitely do not consider myself patient.
Patience is something that grows. It does not grow or develop alone either. God uses many circumstances to grow patience in us. There is a saying that you should never pray for patience because the Lord will place you in a situation where you will develop it. When I hear the statement which I quoted above I reply something like the following. “God did not bless me with these children because I am a patient person. One of the reasons He blessed me with them is precisely because I am not patient enough.” God teaches me more about patience with each new life. I have also noticed that unless patience is practiced, it is something I tend to forget. There are times when I realize that I was more patient with an older child when they learned a particular task than I am with the younger child. I have forgotten my patience and need to relearn and apply it.
Isaiah 40:31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
This verse has been on my mind lately. It takes a lot of strength to apply the lessons of patience in our lives. Let’s face it, we are not patient by nature and it really is not all that fun. We live in a world where we want everything yesterday. But the Lord says to wait upon Him. To wait!! If I desire to be patient I will need strength. This strength comes from waiting upon the Lord. That is patience, too. It brings me back to the Lord. If I can learn to wait upon the Lord and trust in Him and His sovereignty and timing in life, then it gives me the strength to be patient because I can rest in Him concerning all things. That rest brings peace(another Fruit of the Spirit) and that peace flowing through us causes patience to flourish.
More Fruit of the Spirit Friday.
Posted in Christianity, Fruit of the Spirit, Quiverfull
January 25th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
As an only child, I come from the other end of the spectrum. However I have noticed one misconception about large families. Mom doesn’t do it all. There is the conception that a mother with 5,6,7, or 8 children does everything that needs to be done. The truth is that the older children take on some of the responsibilities of caring for the young ones. This teaches them some valuable life skills at an early age and probably prepares them to be good parents at some point. Granted, I believe that there are some days you feel like the world has blown up and your house is the ground zero debris field, but those are the days that patience is called upon to assist in getting through the day.
January 25th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
you are very correct in the fact that the older children do help out. I try very hard to make sure that too much does not fall to them. It does take a lot of patience though to teach the older children (and younger) how to do the things that they help with. They will not always do things the same way or at the same speed or even quality that I might and it takes a lot of patience to accept the differences and work together.
January 25th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
I like this response: “God did not bless me with these children because I am a patient person. One of the reasons He blessed me with them is precisely because I am not patient enough.”
It disturbs me to hear Christians talk of ‘not having what it takes’ as a reason for not doing certain things, having children being one of them. This is an entirely non-biblical perspective on reality. We honor the Lord through faith in His word and obedience and He provides what is needed as we continually yield to Him.
I have to remind myself of this and try to remember this response so I can gently encourage others to think Biblically.
Thank-you Kristine
January 25th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
“One of the reasons He blessed me with them is precisely because I am not patient enough.” “
Me too.
I have a friend with no children who says she doesn’t understand sacrifice (as in missionaries giving their all). Being a mother, especially to a full quiver, builds in us things like patience and ability to sacrifice.
Thanks for hanging in the meme with me (or I’d be all alone!)
Robin
htrtp://heartofwisdom.com/blog