Daily Devotional

I am going through Men In Action for the first time. It’s a curriculum written by Dr. Jim Cecy and Michael Wilhelm designed to equip men to lead in the home, the church, and the community. Pastor Jim and Michael Wilhelm are teaching the class on Thursday nights at Maple. And I’m loving it.

One thing all of the men have to do during the 12 weeks is share a testimony on the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23); describing the fruit you struggle with most. When I study the Fruit of the Spirit, there’s one that always jumps out at me, and that’s patience.

My lack of patience started to show itself shortly after I got my driver’s license. I was driving to church for the Sunday evening service and an old guy was in front of me driving his Buick 10 under the speed limit. I thought about passing him, but the right-hand turn into the church parking lot was only a few blocks away, so I thought I’d wait. Because he was going so slow, and I was in a hurry to get to church, I started tailing him. I noticed he was looking at me in his rearview mirror. He didn’t look happy, so he gradually drove slower and slower. I became more impatient and started following him closer and closer. And the situation escalated to where I could see he was angry, and so was I.

Then the unthinkable happened. He turned on his right signal and prepared to turn into church. He was obviously going to the same service I was going to. I didn’t know what to do. I thought, “Should I drive past the church and go to a different entrance? Should I not go at all? No…I’m going to go.” So, I followed him in, and then drove to the other side of the church, going in a side entrance.

I went in, hung up my coat, hit the restroom, got a drink of water, and slowly made my way over to the sanctuary, hoping to avoid this man. Well, you guessed it, when I got over to the sanctuary, this guy was waiting for me. As soon as he saw me, he came walking toward me with a stern look on his face and said, “What were you doing tailing me like that? Don’t you know you can cause an accident? Not to mention it’s rude?” I said, “I’m sorry sir, I shouldn’t have done that.” He just shook his head, turned, and walked away.

In Men in Action, I learned a new way to think about patience. It’s being ‘slow to anger’. I always thought of my struggle with patience as, “I hate waiting”, but it’s actually more than that. When that guy was driving 10 under the speed limit, I got angry and escalated the situation by driving right on his bumper. That made him angry so he drove even slower. Thinking back on it, the right response was to control my anger and drive his speed at the proper following distance till I had to make my turn.

Four ways I am trying to grow in the spiritual fruit of patience.

1. Seek Scripture
Proverbs 19:11
“A man’s discretion makes him slow to anger, And it is his glory to overlook a transgression.”

• Impatience shows itself in anger.
• Rely on the Holy Spirit to give the patience necessary to avoid anger.

2. Surround yourself with patient people

• My best friend, Mike, gives guitar lessons to kids who never practice. He patiently challenges them, and in time, they respond.
• My friend Jim and I were driving to a conference in Chattanooga, TN. Traffic was completely stopped, and I started to complain. He said, “Brian, you can’t go any faster than the guy in front of you…be patient.”
• My wife, Jenn, is very patient. When our kids don’t clean up their rooms when asked, she goes in and patiently reminds them. If I go in…it’s more angry and less loving.

3. Seek wise counsel
Proverbs 1:5
“A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel.”
My mentor, Tim, is a very patient man. He regularly asks me how I’m doing in the area of patience. One time I shared with him that I’m struggling with patience on the roadways. He said, “Brian, one thing that helps me is to think about the circumstances that might be going on in that driver’s life. Maybe he just got a bad diagnosis for a loved one. Maybe he just got fired from his job. Maybe he’s in a bad marriage.” And thinking about these things has helped me.

4. Pray
One thing I’ve realized is, that the more I pray for patience, the more opportunities God gives me to practice patience.
I know this side of heaven, I will not be perfect exhibiting the Fruit of Patience. But I have a God who loves me. I have the Holy Spirit convicting me. I have His Word to guide me. And I have friends to help me walk through my failures. And with all of this, I plan to grow the Fruit of patience.

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