30 Days of Character Development - Patience

I have been dreading this one. But in building and developing Godly Character this one is a must! Patience is usually defined in two ways, either waiting under difficult circumstances and the other is being patient with people.

Patience is:
1 – The quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.
2 – An ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay: to have patience with a slow learner.
3 – Quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence: to work with patience.

We all have been in a place in life where we had to "wait" through the circumstances. Especially when those circumstances are difficult and you don't understand them. Some examples may be, waiting to get out of a difficult job situation, a dream that is not unfolding in your life, an illness that isn't going away, a marriage that isn't improving or if it is it's not as fast as you want it to, children that are in a difficult stage of life and you want life to hurry to get past it.

Some examples you can find in the bible of waiting through circumstances were

• Joseph waited in a pit and the in a prison for a total of some 12 years before life began to work out for him.
• Sarah and Abraham waited for a baby for many many years
• Ruth waited for a husband
• David waited to be a king
• Moses waited in the wilderness for years

Well, one of the things that are happening to us if we let it during these times of waiting is we are developing PATIENCE. Times of developing patience are usually not fun. We as people in general tend to complain, get confused and lose faith when we have to wait for things for too long.

The truth of the matter is if you are in a waiting period for something, no matter what it may be, complaining, worrying, becoming anger and frustrated are not going to hurry the process. In fact, it may make it slower.

So how can we learn to be more patient and continue to enjoy life during the wait:
1 – Develop realistic expectations
2 – Realize that setbacks are only temporary
3 – Employ a problem solving attitude instead of choosing to be a victim
4 – Avoid bitterness
5 – Have faith that you can overcome a difficult situation, allow it to be a time of deeper relationship with God
6 – Be aware of triggers that cause you to become impatient. If it’s something you can change, take steps to change it. If not, then adjust your attitude and mindset accordingly.
7- Use this time as a time to grow as a person both inside and out-God is more concerned about the character that is building while you wait then about hurrying the process.

There is a saying I heard somewhere and it is so true, "You are going to wait anyway so you might as well be happy while you wait." and develop the character of patience while your at it.

"God makes everything happen at the right time." Ecclesiastes 3:1 "I am the Lord; no one who waits for my help will be disappointed." Isaiah 49:23