Welcome to in Bolden, where through Bible scripture and commentary, we seek a bold fate, and in doing so we share the amazing love and message of the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Hello, I'm Chris Shetter. I'm an ordinary Christian seeking a deeper relationship with our extraordinary God. Won't you join me?
Hi friends, are you looking for a life full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and that ever-elusive self-control? Please join me over the next few weeks as we take a look at the Bible's verse in Galatians 5, 22 to 23, so we can experience the Christian life in full bloom. You know, there must not be many other words in the human language that can evoke as much negative response as the word wait. For what?
How long? Why? No one likes to wait, it seems. We don't want to wait in line, wait for the doctor, wait for the test results, wait for the phone call, and so much more.
We've created online shopping, so we don't have to wait to go searching around town for what we need. We have fast food, so we don't have to wait to cook a homemade meal. And although modern conveniences can help us accomplish other, maybe more important, has, there are plenty of things worth waiting for. Say the birth of a child, a harvest, the right spouse, or freshly baked bread.
My younger daughter, throughout much of her life, made the word wait part of her regular vocabulary. Every time we'd be ready to cut out somewhere, we'd hear her yelling as she's jumping around trying to find her other shoe or brushing her hair. Wait, wait, wait! That kid was never ready.
You know, there are, however, clear times that if we want to blossom as Christians, we need to not only wait, but wait patiently, not allowing our fleshly desires to supersede God's omniscience. To marry or not, to have children, to take the job, to move to another home, how to deal with difficult people or situations, medical decisions, all these potentially life-altering choices should be sought patiently in wisdom with the Lord. I've heard from way too many Christians about failed marriages because they were too impatient to wait for the right person. I did this great study once with my BSG's Charles Stanley's 30 Life Principles.
One of his comments was, do not run ahead of God. The delays may be very challenging for you, but they are growing your faith in him. Look to him, strengthen yourself in his word and love, remain confident that he is working on your behalf. So, okay, we get it.
We need to wait on God's wisdom. But the waiting is not the fruit. The waiting is the fertilizer, the opportunity for the fruit, which is patience in that waiting. My friends and family know I have not typically been a patient person.
I'm a doer. I make decisions and I get things done. I hate waiting around for other people until one day it hit me. What does my impatientness look like to the world?
If I were to ask you the characteristics of an impatient person, you'd probably say someone who looks angry, frustrated, annoyed, or maybe even belligerent. To the world, it looks like someone lacking in the other fruits, love, joy, and peace. My getting frustrated and waiting was fruit killing. The killer spray I was using on my fruit was my pry.
I knew better how to make things happen faster, more efficient, and more productively. I knew better than almost anyone I encountered, especially God. And the world says, quote, why should I be a Christian if I still look like that? Titus 1 16 says, they claim to know God, but by their actions, they deny him.
They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for doing anything good. Wow, talk about a conviction. True patience isn't really just a lack of doing something. It's also about what's going on inside your heart and your head.
Are you thinking loving, joyful thoughts during a waiting moment? Do you have peace from God knowing he has a plan for you in this time? Because I'll tell you my friend, if we stand in line tapping our foot and being annoyed, we might just miss the opportunity to serve God. Say an elderly person who is struggling with her groceries.
You know, the line that wait, it's just as long for Christians and non-Christians. Are we to be the same and how we deal with it? Or are we to remember what Christian author Dane Orttland observes? The eye of life's tornadoes is the calm hope of our final destination.
These short-term opportunities for patiently waiting help build up our long-term waiting muscles when the pregnancy hasn't happened yet, when the right job hasn't come along yet, when the pain hasn't gone away yet, when our sons and daughters haven't accepted the Lord yet. These aren't times to get impatient, there are times to show the world what we believe is true. You see, each of those yets is a hope we place in God's faithful loving hands. He's asking us to trust him just like he asked Abraham, the Israelites and the apostles.
He's saying, wait. More importantly, he's saying, wait patiently without fretting, without worry, without fear. Trust me. Is there something you are hoping for today?
Ask him in prayer and then wait patiently. It may not be answered today or tomorrow or even in 10 years. But during that time of patience, he will do great things in and through you. Have an awesome day.
I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Unbolden Podcast. Be sure to follow along so you don't miss any episode. And check out my blog at embolden.net.