"But the fruit of the Spirit is...PATIENCE"

The next fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5 is Patience. The lucky random winner of this fruit is...me. Believe me...if I could've chosen any other fruit, I would've. But God must have wanted me to be the one to be stuck with this one...I mean "blessed to be one that writes about patience". That sounds better, doesn't it? So just in case some of you reading today don't know much about me, I thought I should include a little somethin'. So here you go...

Name: Jennifer Bycroft
Hometown: Brazil, IN
Married to: Matt Bycroft...God's BEST for me!
Family: Married in December 1997 (almost 13 years now)! Blessed with 2 daughters...Macayla, age 10...and Rachel, age 8...AND another blessing on the way, due this summer. :)
Current living: Iola, KS
Hobbies: love the outdoors, tennis, photography, ministry, watching college basketball (specifically March Madness), and last but not least...being with my family. Is that a hobby? Even if it's not, I do love being with Matt and our girls.
I have been blessed that the 4 of us have healthy close relationships with each other.

And now, some thoughts...

"By nature, I am not a very patient person. I said "by nature". Anyone with me? I am so thankful that we don't have to stay in that category of "by nature" when we describe who we are. I'm not saying that I have it all figured out yet, but I have changed the "by nature" to "by the help of God"...in other words, learning to take on HIS nature. I am learning how to be more patient like He calls us to be. So those of you out there that continue to say "well, by nature, I am not..." (you fill in the blank), if you are in Christ, there are no more excuses. Because With God's help and grace, you can get where He needs you to be.

In thinking about this word "patience", I'm not just talking about:

--waiting patiently on your child to hurry up and get ready for school;
--waiting patiently in line at walmart when someone goes through the "10 items or less" lane with 100 items;
--waiting patiently in a long line of a traffic jam (it must be farmin' season around here!);
--or telling your child to "be patient" while you're on the phone.

No, I'm talking about something much harder, much more difficult to do. We call this "long-suffering", or patiently enduring wrongs or difficulties, enduring without quitting. When talking about this, I have to throw in there doing it with some sort of calmness while you try with everything that's in you to persevere. If you are one that finds this an easy task, then feel free to stop reading. But because I don't find this to be easy, I must keep typing.

Have you been there? Have you been in a place where you have had to learn how to patiently endure a wrong, trial, or difficulty in your life? I have. And let me tell you...it wasn't that much fun. God knew I needed to go through this...actually GROW through this. I, however, didn't agree with Him on this one bit, and it took me a while to finally surrender to this idea.

Every so often, my husband sends me devotionals he receives via email. A little over a month ago, he sent me the following that I held on to because it talks about the way I have felt concerning some of these difficulties I have had recently. The devotional was taken from the book of Joel. Let me refresh your memory: There was a massive locust plague and severe drought in the land of Judah. Joel calls on everyone to repent. You can read about it on your own. But I do want to highlight Joel 2:25 which says, "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten-the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm-my great army that I sent among you."

We all have probably been in a time of drought in our lives. There are seasons in our lives that involve times of famine and times of restoration. It is during those times of famine that we must patiently trust God, and patiently endure and persevere...as hard as it is sometimes.

Recently, my husband and I went through "one of those times". It involved our church, and our family...two things that mean so much to us. To say it was difficult to just sit back and "patiently endure" is an understatement! My "nature" is to want to take care of it myself. Because after all, we think we can do a pretty good job with that, right? Wrong. My husband, who is the preaching minister at our church, began to be undermined by others in leadership. They turned against him, if you will. False accusations, slander, lies, gossip, mistreatment...you name it, it was done. Because of this, my husband's job was threatened. This just didn't affect the health of our church, but also our family. We just wanted to throw in the towel and quit! The hurt was too much to bear. People we thought were our friends turned into enemies. People we thought we could count on to help us through a difficult time turned out to be people that wanted to see us gone. Thank God for the Christian friends and family that prayed for us and stood by us! We appreciate those that kept reminding us to "be patient , let God work it out, and continue to do what is right no matter what".

Fast forwarding through all of the details, we continued to stand firm, fighting for the truth to be told, and "patiently endured" while not knowing what the outcome would be. This was not an easy task! But we had to trust that God knew best, and He would bring restoration. Total restoration has not come yet in some of those areas, but we have been able to sit back and witness how God has done the impossible (to us anyway) and bring us on the other side of that difficulty in our lives. God gave wisdom and truth to those that needed it at just the right time, and Matt's job was secured. After over a year now, our church family has grown...not just in numbers, but more importantly, spiritually as well. We have seen restoration happen. And Matt and I have learned all over again that we are serving Jesus, and living for Him...no matter what others might say. I was just thinking the other day how comforting it is to know that we have grown in this area. To please God must be our goal in this life. I would've never volunteered to go through something like this, but can understand a little why now. This "patient endurance" may have been just as much for me, as it has been for others to go through. I now know how to handle things God's way in times like these. My reactions and responses to the things that happened, and at times still continue to happen, are not the same as it once was. I've learned how to better turn those over to God. Not perfect by any means, but changed with His help. He is constantly teaching me to rely on Him, letting Him have His way in His own time. He doesn't need me trying to speed up His plan! Had we just left and quit because the times were tough, we would have never seen how God repayed those couple of years that the locusts had eaten.

Galatians 5:25-26 says, "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other." Paul warns us that there must be a right atmosphere before the fruit will grow. We can't get ahead of God, impatiently doing our own thing because we "think" we know best, but to wait and endure, trusting God with all of it.

I like the reminder that Warren Wiersbe gives to us. He says, "The Christian who is long-suffering will not avenge himself or wish difficulties on those who oppose him. He will be kind and gentle..." I must admit this is not easy for me to do either. But possible, only with the "help of God". He will take care of it.

We've seen restoration in the church, now just "patiently waiting" on restoration in the family. God can do it. We can't do it alone, that's for sure. I don't have any idea when this will happen. But if you are in a similar situation, or ever have been, God wants you to know that there is a time when He will restore in order to demonstrate His gracious hand in our lives. He loves us and guides us through the most difficult places. Remember that He is the restorer of that which the locusts have eaten. Wait patiently for Him to bring this about in your life. After all, does He not constantly wait patiently for us?

"But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and have eternal life." (I Tim. 1:16)

"The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)

And here's a couple more reminders that we are to demonstrate patience...

"You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near." (James 5:8)

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." (Rom. 12:12)"