part 1 of a 2-part teaching 

...But the fruit of the Spirit is....Patience. (Galatians 5:22)

If I didn't think God had a sense of humor I would think he is taunting me. I have asked the Lord in the past couple of years, especially, to help me be gracious and patient so that I would grow older gracefully. I don't want to be known as a grumpy neighborhood snit, but I want to emulate the kindness of Jesus. So God started to answer my prayer in a very specific way...

My neighbors: We have some of the best neighbors one could wish for. This family of seven (three of which are teenage boys) moved 15 feet from our house 3 years ago. It didn't take me long to realize that my serene, park-like setting backyard, would no longer be nappingly quiet in my hammock, or park like. Soon after they moved in they put a basketball stand on their vibrating deck right at my fence line.

Gone were the days of sleeping so sound on my days off that I didn't know where I was when I woke up. In addition to that, their basketball flies over our fence 5-10 times a day. We, of course, have given them permission to come through our back gate without permission. The only problem is that the gate has a high pitched squeaking sound that alerts us that the boys are retrieving their basketball. One more thing, I occasionally like to sunbathe and get my quotient of vitamin D so I alerted their mother that it can be quite a scary experience for her sons to see my white contorted body, swim trunks and all, sprawled out on a towel when they enter my backyard.

As I started to work through the annoyance of losing my privacy and peace I began to realize God's humor in it all. I kid you not friend, I can time their basketball schedule and the vibrating thumping sound, by the exact moment when I go out to lounge and relax. As soon as my head hits the chaise lounge the thumping begins. If you were to ask me, what is your neighbor's basketball schedule, my answer would be, whenever I choose to go out and have quiet!

Why does the Lord put us in situations that are so poorly timed and annoying? The short answer is patience. Whether it's a long red light, a crowded line at the checkout stand or the highly annoying habit of someone you are close to, the Lord causes those silly irritants as fertilizers for the fruit of the Spirit called patience. 

I heard Pastor Chuck Swindoll once say that the clerk wearing the training badge at the busy checkout counter in the grocery store would not be impressed of your knowledge of scripture, how long you have been in the faith or your articulate conviction of eschatology. What they will never forget when it's hot, the line is long, and everyone seems agitated, is your patient response that warmly and gently encourages them with an understanding comment.

One of the most common contemporary prayers goes something like, "Lord give me patience but I want it right now"! What I have come to discover is that it's not a prayer we need to even pray. The Lord is determined to grow our fruit of patience whether we ask for it or not. Everyday there are opportunities where we must draw on the calm and kind resources of Christ and reflect His image through patience.

So if you, like me, have had your comfort zone invaded and you irritation level is rising, take a deep breath, pray and chuckle a bit because it is no accident. The Lord is digging around in your soul again (at the most inopportune times) so that He can produce the needed and sweet characteristic of Patience!

Moving forward in His grace, 

Pastor Bill