When I think of patience, I think of the people who followed God in the period between the Old and New Testaments. For about 500 years, God sent prophets to warn His people of their need for repentance. He sent prophet after prophet to warn them of their impending doom unless they changed their ways. And then? Nothing. For 400 years. Only silence for generations. 

Those who were faithful to God must have felt completely abandoned. They went from captor to captor during tumultuous political changes and still, God was completely silent. Today, we know that God was going to send Jesus, but they did not know that at the time. And all they could do was be patient and wait for God to speak again.

When we are waiting for God, it can feel like we have been abandoned. There have been times in my life where I was waiting on God to confirm a major life decision and I felt like He was silent. Those days were really hard because I wanted nothing more than to make the right choice, but I felt like God was taking His sweet time with my confirmation. And so, I was out there and floating in the sea of indecision. 

How To Be Patient While Waiting On God

1. Remember the past. I remember how God has seen me through tough times before. When I remind myself that God is just and answers my prayers, it gives my patience meter a boost and I am able to wait longer because I know that whatever is coming is for my benefit. 

2. What is He teaching me? I try to check if there is anything God is trying to teach me in the interim. Is there a behavior that you should change? Is there a habit you need to break? Sometimes, the waiting period is the best time to work out the other sins in our lives. 

3. Know that He is good. Being patient when God seems silent can be one of the most difficult aspects of our faith. Knowing that God is always good and has our best interests in mind helps us to stay patient while we wait. 

Being patient with others is a completely different story! People are hard because they are imperfect. 

Galatians 5:22-23 tells us that patience is one of the fruits of the Spirit. Patience should be developing in our lives as we deepen our relationship with Christ. But sometimes, it is really hard to be patient. Especially when dealing with other imperfect people. I have not perfected patience, but I have come up with a two-step process for being patient with others. 

How To Be Patient With Others

1. Remember they are also made in the image of God. We are both loved deeply and wholly by Him. We are also both flawed and imperfect people who mess up sometimes. This helps me to realign how I see the situation. Instead of someone who is doing something specifically to annoy me and test my patience, I see a person who God loves and cares for who is probably dealing with things I cannot see. I should take a deep breath and try to treat them the way that I would want to be treated (Luke 6:31). 

2. Remember how patient God has been with me. Like all the times where I went my own way instead of following His. Or the times I was mean and unloving towards my neighbors, and He forgave me of those sins. God has infinite patience and is gracious in doling it out to us. The least we can do is work on being patient with others. 

When all else fails, I sing the patience song to myself: “Be patient. Be patient. Don’t be in such a hurry. When you get impatient, it only causes worry. Remember! Remember! That God is patient too. Remember all the times when people had to wait on you!”

Having patience with God has less to do with the outcome and more to do with our faith. Do we trust that He has the right answer for our lives? Do we believe that no matter the answer that God will be with us every step of the way? If those things are true, then we can rely on God’s timing just as much as we rely on His answer. Having patience with God’s people is a way to show God’s love and influence in your life. Does God show us incredible amounts of patience? Yes. So, we should “go and do likewise!”