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一天下午，一个男孩种下了一包种子，想要开辟一个花园。第二天，他回来寻找新苗，但它们还没有发芽。于是他把它们挖了出来，要弄个明白。我们很像这个孩子。我们期待立竿见影的效果。也许你听过美国人对耐心的祈祷。“主啊，给我耐心，我现在就要！”但只有让忍耐的果子慢慢成熟，我们才会尝到它的甜美。

在《基督徒生活之道》这本关于圣灵的果子的书中，约翰——蒂默曼讲述了他如何发现忍耐的本质。他在一个有一间通风卧室的房子里长大，他的父母在冬天会把那个房间关起来，只用来存放圣诞礼物。约翰会偷偷溜进那个房间，细心地摇晃每一个包裹，猜测里面有什么。但每当他走进那个房间，他的父母就会发现屋里有一股冷空气，他们便当场抓住他。打开礼物必须等到圣诞节早上。约翰因此学会了等候，尽管他并不喜欢等候。

忍耐包括带着盼望的等候。就像农夫等待雨水帮助他的庄稼生长一样，我们也要满怀盼望地等候神的应许实现。忍耐是指在不怀疑神的爱的情况下等候神的时间。这意味着等候时不担心、不抱怨、不要求神按照我们的时间表来满足我们。

One afternoon a boy planted a package of seeds to start a garden. The next day he returned to look for the new plants, but they hadn't sprouted yet. So he dug them up to understand what had happened.

We are a lot like that. We expect immediate results. Maybe you have heard the American prayer for patience: "Lord, give me patience—and I want it now!" But only when the fruit of patience is allowed to mature slowly will we ever taste its sweetness.

In The Way of Christian Living, a book on the fruit of the Spirit, John Timmerman relates his discovery of the essence of patience. He grew up in a house with a drafty bedroom, and his parents would close that room in the winter and use it only to store Christmas presents. John would sneak into that room and delicately shake each package to guess the contents. But whenever he went into that room, his mom and dad would notice the rush of cold air in the house, and they would catch him in the act. The presents had to wait until Christmas morning. John learned to wait even though he didn't feel like it.

Patience involves waiting with anticipation. Just as the farmer waits for the rains to help grow his crops, so we wait with expectation for God's promises to be fulfilled. Patience involves awaiting God's time without doubting God's love. This means waiting without worrying, complaining, or demanding that God should satisfy our time table.