One of the hardest things to do in life is to wait. We want immediate answers. We want instant results. We want quick fixes. We want fast growth. But the reality is fruit doesn't grow overnight, and neither does our spiritual maturity. You know, I, I don't find in 20 in over 20 years of being a pastor, I don't find that most people get frustrated with God's no, but rather, and more often, people get frustrated with God's lack of yes. Does that make sense? Right? You're praying for something, you want something, and you trust God's will. But you struggle with God's timing. Tracking with me, right? Maybe you're walking through something that you've been praying for, that you've been asking for, that you're that you're walking through right now, and it doesn't feel like God is answering. Well, in the middle of all those things, we learn what it means to be patient. And so this morning's message is entitled Spirit-filled Patience. Spirit-filled Patience. And our theme verse for the summer series comes from Galatians chapter 5, verse 22 and 23. It says, but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things, there is no law. Now what does it mean to be spirit-filled? Well, let me ask you a question. What can these gloves by themselves do? What can they build? What can they fix? What can they carry? You know, they look useful, right? They're work gloves, OK? They're designed in the image of a hand. They were designed for the purpose of work. But in and of themselves, can do absolutely nothing. So too is the life of the believer. See, we are made in the image of God. We were designed on purpose, with a purpose. We're told in Ephesians 2:10 that we are God's workmanship. Created for good works. But the reality is, when left to ourselves, We can do nothing But when the hand of God, when the Spirit of God indwells us. Our lives start to take shape. Our lives start to move. And our faith can get to work. Now, these work gloves on my hands are very limited in their capacity of what they can do. You don't need to laugh that hard. I appreciate it though. Maybe hang a light fixture, mow a lawn, pull some weeds, right? But it's limited, OK. But if you put gloves on the hands of a master craftsman, then anything is possible, right? And I want to tell you That your life in the hands of the creator of the universe. When you give your life over to him, to be filled with the very spirit that conquered death itself. When you allow your life to become spirit-filled and spirit led, then I'm telling you, anything is possible. But we have to stop trying to live our lives apart from the spirit. I can't just look at these gloves and say, get to work. In the same way, you need the power of God in your life. Now today we're talking about patients. And patience, if I'm being honest, is probably like the least sexy of the fruit of the spirit. Right? Like love, joy, peace, we all want that. And people say they want patience. Uh well, OK, it's probably a competition between patience and self-control, right? Like the least exciting one. Why? Because you don't just become patient. You get placed in situations that require patience. And I, can I just be transparent with you for a moment from just like 30 minutes ago? In the first hour, uh, it's, it's funny how God works this way. Here I am giving a sermon on patience, OK. Uh, we just got a new streaming computer in the back, this room back here, OK? We got it all set up, it's still working great. Uh, we forgot to put mute on the brand new computer. And so while I was giving the last sermon, I hear on a 2.5 minute tape delay, my voice from this corner. Have you ever talked on the phone and you hear an echo of yourself? It's hard to have a conversation, right? Imagine trying to preach an entire sermon that way. Because that's what was happening. And then, because we didn't know what was happening and no one else knew cause only I could hear it. So I'm hearing the voice and to make matter, at first I thought it was a Bible study. I was like, what what is happening back there? And then it turns out it was my voice. So I was distracting me. And then the emergency light, which we have since taken down, something went glitchy and started flickering and buzzing. And so I hear my voice on a 2.5 minute delay and a flickering light, and I'm trying to stay focused and preach a sermon on patients. So, sorry, first hour, I apologize if I seemed a little angry, like, open the Bible, like there's, there's things going on, OK? But isn't there things going on in your life too, right? Well, I understand that you came walking in carrying stuff with you. Right? There's maybe a handful of people that came in ready to praise the Lord. But I understand that you're going to go back and finish the argument that you started on the way here. Right? Or figure out how you got to pay the bills this week, or put food on the table. Or forgive that person or have that hard conversation that you need to have, or figure out what move is next. See, God doesn't just give you patience, rather, he gives you the opportunity to grow in patience. But what actually is patience? Let me give you a good definition. If you're taking notes, write this down. Patience is the active trust that God is always working, even when we can't see it. Patience is the act of trust that God is always working, even when we can't see it. Some of the words for patience in the Bible include endurance, perseverance, forbearance, slowness, and long suffering. Right. If you've been a Phoenix Suns fan like I am, you understand long suffering. OK, I kind of kid when it comes to sports, but there are in reality, difficult circumstances that people work through and walk through. Where you find yourself asking, God, are you here? Are you hearing me? Are you gonna bring about resolution? God, I thought you were the God of love, the God of joy, the God of peace. Where are you, God? It's in those cases where we grow impatience. There's an interesting phrase in Hebrew. That where that's used to describe patience in in in the ancient Near East. It was in Hebrew thought patience is often described as being long of nostrils. The idea of being long nose or have a long nose is, is that when you get mad, when you get frustrated, your face gets a little red, and so your nose will get a little red. For example, in Genesis 39:19, Potiphar's nose got red when he got mad thinking that Joseph had slept with his wife. He didn't, just didn't sleep with his wife, but Potiphar didn't know that, and so he thought, and his, his nose got red. So to have a long nose. Didn't mean you are a liar like Pinocchio, but actually just meant you had patience cause it took you longer to get mad, right? So if, if there's anybody in the room that's ever been told that they have a big nose, say no, I'm just a very patient person. OK. The idea of patience is really this idea of refusing to explode on people that God is still working on. Right. That can you have the same understanding and love and view of people that God does? Well, how does God view patients? Let's talk about that. Three keys this morning to growing in spirit-filled patience. And again, when left to yourself, no one is a patient person, right? You need the Spirit of God in your life. And patience might be one of those ones that you really do experience it the most, that has to come from God. Three keys to growing in spirit-filled patience. Number 1, we have to first look back and remember God's patience towards you. We have to look back and remember God's patience towards you. Where has God been patient with you in the past? Because in the Bible, we have time and time again, where God does not bring about justice on his people in lieu of patience, longing for their repentance and reconciliation. It says in Exodus 34:6, the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, the Lord, Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, there it is, of long nose, of long nostrils, and abounding and steadfast love and faithfulness. See, even with Pharaoh, God gave him 10 chances. To turn. He didn't turn. And the Old Testament is filled with story after story, where God calls them out to become his people. They reject God. God eventually gives them over to the desires of their heart, right? They would worship pagan gods. And so then he would allow the pagan cultures to come in and rule and judge them for a time, until he would bring about a remnant or redemption, redeem his people, bring them out, they would turn to him, and then they fall back again. All the while, God is demonstrating patience. That's why the psalmist in Psalm 103:8, says the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. In the New Testament, the apostle Peter put it this way in 2 Peter 3:9, He said, the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever had one of those days when you just thought, God, could you just come back? Can you just come back, like, I see the darkness, I see the craziness, the chaos in the world. Can you just end it? Like, can you just come back, return. Right? Let's, let's take who we got. And celebrate in heaven and call it a day. But here's the reality. God has dealt with sin in the past, right? We see him with Noah in the flood. We see Elijah and the prophets of Baal. We see these continual prophets and judgments and and and cycles. We see that Jesus came down and died on the cross as an act of justice and payment and grace and and covering of our sin. And we have a promise that God's gonna return in the future. And then at the very end of the book, it says that ultimately, There in at Armageddon, at the very end, God's gonna say, OK, Satan, your time's up, you're done. So he will, he has and he will. But did you ever stop to think about this fact? That every day that God waits to return is another opportunity for more people to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. So every day that evil is allowed to exist, so is another opportunity for salvation and grace. You see, what if God returned the day before you got saved? What if God came back and ended things the day before you turned your life around? You see, for every day that God doesn't come back is actually a demonstration of his patience, because he wants more and more people to turn to him. So when will God return? When it's time. And I don't know when that is, but he does. So in the waiting, every day that we wake up is another day to turn to God. Paul puts it this way. 1 Timothy 1:16. He says, but I receive mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the perfect patience, as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. Paul saying, look, if God can have patience with me, he can have patience with you. If if God can work in my life. I'm telling you, God can work in your life. He's waiting on you. So how do we grow in patience? Number one, we have to look back and remember God's patience towards you. But #2, we have to look around and practice God's patience with others. How did Jesus himself demonstrate this fruit? Well, over and over and over again. I don't, I don't know about you, but when I read the gospels, uh, when the disciples mess up, I kind of giggle a little bit. Like, cause I relate to that, right? Like when they're, when Peter's standing up saying, repent, and like thousands of people get saved and like these miracles happen, you're like, oh, wow, that's pretty cool. I don't know if I could do that. You can, but, but he doesn't feel like it sometimes, right? But when the disciples so clearly mess up, I'm like, uh, uh, that's relatable. You're tracking with me? Let me set up the stage for this story, OK? In Mark chapter 6, Jesus does this miracle, one of the famous, most famous miracles that even if you don't know the Bible, OK, you understand this one, is it's called he fed the 5000. Right? Now with women and children included, it's probably closer to 20,000. But just for name's sake, we'll just say he feeds the 5000. He takes 5 loaves, 2 fish. Feeds 5000 people. And at the end, there were leftovers, right? I love Jesus. Jesus took naps, loves leftovers, right? Be like Jesus, OK. Now, how many baskets of leftovers were there? 12. Some say it represents the 12 tribes of Israel it could. But what we do know there were 12 disciples. So each disciple is carrying a basket of leftovers after watching Jesus provide. Now, that one gets all the attention, that gets all the headlines, but did you know that Jesus did it again? He did another feeding miracle. You see, just 2 chapters later, in Mark chapter 8, He, another crowd of people, he feeds 4000. This time with 7 loaves, and they don't specify how many fishes and a few fish. But what's interesting Is that what's interesting here is that he uses a different, he uses a different word for basket. In this case. And so now there's 7 baskets of leftovers. And what's indicated there is that it was a larger basket. Some commentators point that it might be large enough that it might need 2 people to carry it. Now, let's do some math for a second. How many disciples are there? 12. There are 7 baskets of leftovers that are larger than before and might need 2 people to carry. So, do they have enough people to carry the baskets? No. So God feeds the 5000, 12 baskets of leftovers, maybe 12 tribes of Israel, but definitely each of the disciples carrying a basket. Two chapters later, he feeds the 4000. Now there's 7 baskets. They're shared carrying this weight. There's even an extra basket behind, behind that. If you're into numbers, 7 does represent the perfect number of God, the perfection of God. And so you have this incredible picture. The Pharisees come in, they try to challenge Jesus, and he says, no, you don't understand. And so Jesus, you know what? I'm done with the Pharisees. Let's get in the boat. Let's go to the other side and keep doing ministry. Now, why all this set up? Because. The, the disciples just. Yeah, uh, let me just read, let me just read verse 14. Now they had forgotten to bring the bread. They did you catch that? Jesus feeds thousands, and then does it again, and the disciples forget to put the basket on the boat. Have you ever done all the work? And then you ask your spouse or your kids to do one thing. Right? You get everything ready. And like, they're like, no, I saw you loaded in the car. You didn't load the car. I thought you loaded the car. I was like, you're like, are you? Hypothetically speaking, your spouse asks you to pick up one thing from the grocery store, and being a gracious, loving husband that you are, you go to the store on the way home and you pick up so many things. Except the one thing. That was requested, again, hypothetically. Jesus did this incredible miracle, and the disciples don't bring the bread on the boat. And they only had one loaf with them and go. Now, remember, Jesus had just challenged the Pharisees. So Jesus turns and now he's about to have Bible study with them. Imagine having a Bible study in a boat with Jesus. He says this, and he cautioned them saying, watch out, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. OK, leaven's part of bread and through. Think about how leaven really is like influence, right? A little bit of leaven influences the whole loaf. So in the same way, the leaven of Pharisees, right? Watch out for the Pharisees, always demanding for a sign, always trying to be legalistic, always trying to make faith about religion and rules instead of relationship and believing and connecting with God. He says beware of the leaven, beware of the influences. Then he says, beware of the leaven of Herod, beware of the influence of political power. Hello Right? Beware of the influence of pagan worship and pursuit of pleasure and power and ruling. Man, You're in a boat with Jesus after the miracle. He's having a Bible study with you. Where's the focus of the disciples? 16. And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. Come on now. Like, I mean, this is a miracle. He's preaching, he's teaching. Beware of the Pharisees, beware of Herod. Accept the word of God. And the disciples like, I, you're supposed to bring the bread. Did you bring the bread? Like, I'm kind of hungry, but like, I know like, if you're OK, how many times have you gone out to eat? You went to like a gourmet meal. It was incredible. It was beautiful. You have to take out a second mortgage for the meal, but you're like, I feel like a good parent. You get home and your kid says, what? Um, this is what happens with the disciples and Jesus. And so like one of them's hungry, the other one didn't bring it, and they're like, but, but I thought you were supposed to bring bread. I kinda want bread. Did you get bread? I don't know, like, And Jesus, aware of this, says, why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? Having ears, do you not hear? Do you not remember? He says when I broke the 5 loaves for the 5000, how many baskets of broken pieces did you take up? 12. And the 7 for the 4000, how many baskets? Again, different word for basket, full of broken pieces did you take up? And they said, 7. He says, do you not yet understand? What did they not understand? A lot. Because after he fed the 5000, he also taught them and said, I am the bread of life. He says, this isn't just about food, like, whether you missed it in the, like, one, you didn't bring it on the boat, 2, you're with the guy that just fed thousands like that. You don't think I can take care of you now? Also, this isn't about physical bread. This is about spiritual eternity. Like I'm about to save your life. Like I'm about to die for you. Like you have the world attacking. You have Pharisees saying, no, follow all the rules and legalism. You have Herod saying, you know, follow, pursue power and, and pleasure and, and paganism and all these things. No, no, it's not about that. Like, be connected to me and I will bring about life and life abundantly. And yet you're asking about bread. You know what he has in that moment? Patience Like wouldn't you be tempted to be done with the disciples at that point? I mean, he had the power to calm the storm. You don't think he had the power to flip them into the water? Storm, be still. Peter, be gone. You know what I mean? All right, who's next? Who wants, who wants some blessing over here? Like, he doesn't though. He's patient. All right, let me tell you one more story. Cause now you think, OK, OK, now they got it, now they got it. OK. Fast forward. Jesus dies on the cross. If you're not religious, don't want to spoil it, but he comes back. He comes back on the 3rd day. The disciples are afraid. They don't realize he's back. He appears to them in a locked room, says, I'm here. Peace be with you. Why? Because I'm with you, right? He appears again. So he's appeared twice to them. And where does Peter go? Peter is such a dude. Who just doesn't get it. I love it. Like Peter's like all over the map, because what does he do when he's got the weight of the world and all the stress or what does he wanna do? I'm gonna go fishing. All the dads in the room go, yep, I get it. I get it. I need to go fishing. So he, I mean, Jesus just conquered death. And Peter goes back fishing. Why? Cause it's what he knows. He's trying to process what's next. He's trying to process what to do. So he goes fishing, can't catch a thing. Like, gosh, I failed Jesus. I failed at fishing. I'm a failure. What am I gonna do? A man walks along the shore, says, Hey, have you tried the net on the other side? you tried the other side like. You know, guys love advice. Some people laugh a little harder than others. You got some convos that you need to have at home. But they throw the nets in, nets fill up with fish, just like when God first called them. Peter immediately recognizes that it's Jesus. They're only about 100 yards offshore. So he jumps in and swims. The other disciples like, what are you doing? We'll just pull the boat in. But they come up, we're gonna pick up our story here in John chapter 21 verse 9. Oh, I need to turn there. And when they got on the land. They saw a charcoal fire in place with fish laid out on it and bread. pause. You wanna know something cool, a cool detail. Do you know where the only other time in the New Testament you see the word charcoal, that word used? It's used to describe the fire that Peter was standing next to when he denied Jesus for the 3rd time. And with the fish and the loaves, everything there, all those miracles, he's a fisherman, all these things standing next to the fire. And then notice Jesus already has the fish. He doesn't even need their fish, but he invites them in, says, I want you to be a part of this. He says, let's keep reading. Verse 10, Jesus said to him, Bring some of the fish that you've just caught. So Simon Peter went. Aboard and hauled the net ashore full of large fish, 153 of them. Why do we know that? Well, because they're fishermen, so of course they're going to count. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. And Jesus said to them, come and have breakfast. Now, none of the disciples dared to ask him, who are you, for they knew that it was the Lord. And Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the 3rd time that Jesus had revealed to His disciples after he was raised from the dead. What's incredible about this moment. Is that Jesus took Peter's place of guilt, the charcoal fire, the fish, the bread, all those times that he had fallen short and not gotten it. And Jesus took that place of guilt and turned it into a promise of grace. He didn't scream, he didn't yell, he said. Come have breakfast with me. He would go on and say, do you love me more than these? And he asked that question 3 times. And ultimately he would restore Peter and it would be Peter who would preach the first sermon and launch the church in Acts chapter 2. You know what that tells us? Is that our God is a God of patience. And if God can be patient with the disciples, we can be patient with the people in our lives. If you want to grow in patience, you have to first look back and remember God's patience towards you. If you want to grow in patience, #2, you gotta look around and practice God's patience with others. And then finally, 3, you gotta look ahead and trust God's timing for you. Here's what I mean. It's one thing to practice patience with other people. It's another thing when you are the one that's hurting, right? When you are waiting on the answer, when you have the diagnosis, when you have been betrayed, when you are longing for, when you are suffering, when you are hurting. It's tough to let go of control, to accept God's covering. It's difficult to let go of your plans to trust God's provision. It's tough to let go of your timeline. And to trust God's timing. What do you do when you wait? Uh, because God doesn't work like a genie. He doesn't work like a, OK, rub the lamp and pray and and like get an answer. That was my genie impersonation, by the way. In fact, most characters in the Bible had to wait, and, and the people who were actually struggling and losing their physical lives being persecuted and attacked. And what do the writers in scripture say? James, the half brother of Jesus, wrote these words to a church facing persecution. He wrote this in James 5:7-8. He says, be patient, therefore, brothers. Until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit on the earth. Being patient about it. Until it receives the early and the late rains. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. See, the fact is, is our, our hope is real. And our hope is coming, but our hope is not in our circumstances. Our hope is in the Christ, the Savior, the Lord. And he's with us in the waiting room. Says this in Romans 8:24 and 25. For in this we hope. For in this hope we were saved. I hope that a scene is not hope. For who hopes what they can see. But if we hope for what we do not see, we will wait for it with patience. Prophet Isaiah. And the people of God waiting for redemption. For these powerful words in Isaiah chapter 40, verse 30 and 31. He says even youth. Shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted. But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles, and they shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not be faint. See, what if waiting was not just sitting, twiddling our thumbs. But rather, we thought of waiting like you would working at a restaurant, right? What do waiters do? They serve. What if while you wait for the answer of God, you turn around to be a blessing to the people around you? And you walk with a, a quiet confidence, knowing that while I don't see what's ahead, God does. I remember when the kitten boys were little, they were sitting in the back. And, uh, and they were trying to tell me where to go. And finally, I did the, the, the loving, fatherly thing. pulled the car over and said, I'll stop this car right now. Right? If I brought you into this world, I can take you out. And I just remember like, you are not driving. Dad is driving. I know where we're going. You do not. And I turned back. I'm like, oh. That's what we do with God, right? God is in control. God is leading. Part of the waiting, part of the suffering, is part of the sanctification process. See, patience is active trust that God will always is always working, even when we can't see it. We don't like the idea of patience, but if you look at scripture over and over again, people had to wait. Let me just give you a couple of examples. Abraham and Sarah waited 25 years for a child. Joseph waited 13 years from receiving the dream, going through slavery and imprisonment to where then ultimately he'd be second in charge in Egypt and save his family. Daniel, there were 70 year gaps from when he was in exile to where God saved him from the lion's den. Moses waited 40 years in Midian before God would call him out to set his people free. The people of Israel were enslaved for 400 years in Egypt before they would get set free. And when they were set free, Moses sent 12 spies into the land to see, hey, can we take this promised land or not? Two spies, Joshua and Caleb, came back and said, yes, we can do it. 10 spies said no. And so because of the unbelief of other people, they had to wait 40 years. It's one thing if you wait because of your choices. Imagine waiting because of everybody else's. And yet they stayed faithful. David had to wait 15 to 20 years from the time he was anointed the next king to when he was actually appointed the next king. Noah waited over 100 years for the rain as he was building the ark. Jesus' public ministry didn't start till he was 30 years old. In the Old Testament, Hannah waited many years over the prophesized birth of the next prophet, Samuel. Ruth, after being widowed, waited many years before she met Boaz. In the New Testament, Anna waited 60 years, receiving a word from God that she would see the coming of the Savior. She waited 60 years before she laid eyes on the Jesus Christ that would save us all. And then you read the Hall of Faith, Hebrews 11, and it's story after story after story of people who waited for the promise and the coming of God. I'm telling you, God will come through. He has before He will today, and he's coming back sometime in the future. So whatever you're walking through right now, wait on the Lord. And if you want to grow in patience, You can't do it on your own. But with the Holy Spirit. In your life Made in the image of God. God can come into your life. And say, OK Let's work together. We got work to do. So if you want to grow in patience, it's Father's Day. Starts by number one, looking back, remembering God's patience towards you. Number 2 Looking around, how can you practice God's patience with others? Who do you need to be a little more patient with this week? And then number 3 Look ahead. If you're in the middle of a trial right now, can you trust God's timing for you and serve while in process? Will you pray with me? Dear God, I don't know what area. Requires the most patience in our people's lives right now. Maybe it's a relationship that's testing. Maybe it's a prayer that feels unanswered. Maybe it's a dream, a diagnosis. A child, a job, a situation that isn't changing as quickly as we want it. God, our invitation from you today is not to try harder, but to surrender deeper. May we let go of our timeline and trust your timing. May we let go of our plans and trust your provision. May we let go of our control and rest in your covering. God, you have been so patient with us. And you are still working in the people around us, and you're still working in the circum circumstances that we're fighting right now. We know that fruit doesn't grow overnight, and neither do we. But God, help us to stay connected to you. Help us to yield to the Holy Spirit. May you fill our lives. So that we can grow in patience, grow in faith, and grow in a heart that waits and serves well. May we remember that patience is active trust, that God, you are always working, even when we can't see it. Help us to trust you now. In your son's name we pray. Amen.