Growing in Patience

Well, good morning, everybody. My name is René, another one of the pastors here. Thank you so much for coming out to church on an absolutely gorgeous weekend. Frankly, I'm surprised you're here. I might be out at the beach if I didn't have to be here. No, that's not true. We've got some sunshine, some spiritual sunshine to enjoy here today.

Hey, I want to invite you to grab the message notes that look like this in your bulletins. They're going to help you follow along with what I just am about to say. And why don't you also kind of look at some of the other inserts in your bulletin like this brochure about the mental health conference that's coming up this next weekend. I really want to encourage you to consider coming out of this, not only to hear Ryan Leaf on Friday night, but also there's some amazing workshops. We've got a workshop on sleep deprivation, how to get a better night's sleep, how that affects your mental health. We've got workshops on grief. We've got workshops on addiction and recovery from all kinds of things. It really is a wonderful conference with experts talking about these things.

And then also you'll notice this yellow insert on this side, it has a map of where all the organizations and ministries that are in the lobby today are located and a description of their ministries. If you've been seeking a way to volunteer here at the church or in the community, this is the weekend for you to connect. So I encourage you to go around, chat with some of the reps from those organizations at Connect Expo today.

Well, we are in this series we call Miracle Grow, where we are studying what the Bible refers to as the fruit of the Spirit. And as part of that churchwide study, we're also looking into this book, Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit. We're going through a chapter a week. They link up precisely with what we talk about in the weekend services. There's videos that are free that you can watch related to the book. It's all part of a churchwide effort to grow together in the fruit of the Spirit. And if you want a copy of this book, you can pick one up at the info desk in the lobby. We also have small groups all over the county studying this, and you can pick up a list of small groups at the info desk too.

Now our key verse for this series is Galatians 5:22. And what we're doing at the beginning of the message time every single week is we're reading this out loud together. So let's hear you say this with gusto. My hope is that by the end of this time, we are going to all memorize this. All right, here we go. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Amen.

We've been looking at one of these each week. We've covered love, joy, and peace. And today we are talking about patience. How many of you have been dreading this one? How many of you sometimes need help with your patience? Can I see a show of hands? It's unanimous, right? And it's just getting worse because we live in a culture that by its very nature, everything getting faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, more immediate, it does not develop the skills necessary to learn how to wait.

I mean, think of the changes in your own lifetime. Anybody remember when you used to have to wait to go see a movie? Theaters were the only places you could see them, right? And then something amazing happened. You could go rent what they used to call videos at places called Blockbuster. Anybody remember Blockbuster stores? They're gone now; they're extinct. But then something changed. You could get it delivered on DVD disc into your mailbox by Netflix. Doesn't that seem like the stone age now? I will never forget that one day I saw a tab on my web browser. I was looking at my Netflix account and it said, "Watch movies and TV shows instantly." What is this? And my life was changed.

It's awesome, but that does not teach us patience, people. And by the way, I love it all. I love one-click shopping. I love same-day delivery. I love it all instant. But here's the problem. Real life, things like marriage, parenting, any relationship, working with people, you know, taking on some job assignment, long-term patience is crucial to all those things. In fact, you could say, jot this down in your notes. I need to learn to be patient with life, first of all, right? Traffic jams on Highway 1, checkout lines at Safeway, being put on hold with the insurance company or something, right? And then I need to learn to be patient with other people. No relationship worth anything is a one-click relationship. And I need to learn to be patient with myself because no matter what I'm trying to grow in, a skill or a character quality, no skill is a one-click skill, right?

Listen to any high achievers. They'll tell you no gold medal is one click. No success in life is one click. No spiritual growth is one click. So I need to learn to be patient and then patience with God. And this is a big one. You ever thought, God, why are you taking so long to do what is so obviously the right thing to me, right? So we really need patience in all four of these areas. And yet, we are living in a culture that is constantly undermining what we need to do to develop the skill of patience.

So what are we going to do? Well, really, it's only one thing we can do. We got to look outside of our modern culture to a very ancient culture and an ancient scripture. This morning, we're going to be in James 5:7–11. We're going to go through this verse by verse to see what he has to tell people about patience. Now look up here for a second. Because before we go through these verses, I want to make something clear. This morning's message is a little bit different than maybe you're used to hearing from me. This is not a how-to message. I'm not going to tell you a lot of, well, if you really want to be patient, you got to count to many people say you got to count to 10. I'm going to tell you to count to 12. That's going to make all the difference. I'm not going to give you a lot of little steps like that. This isn't a how-to message. This is a big picture message because that's what I think we need to learn to develop patience.

Let me explain it this way. I love hiking in Santa Cruz County and I've noticed that in neighborhoods near the ocean, we have these coastal access signs. Do you see these? They're in neighborhoods where the street and the traffic and the houses and the power lines, they're right in front of the ocean. You've got this vast, amazing Monterey Bay and Pacific Ocean, but you can't see it because it's behind the houses. But these signs point to some little paths you can go to. If you go down this step, wow, there's the Pacific Ocean. I didn't see it and I was only like half a block away. There it is. I listen to the waves and I look at the majesty of this panorama and it calms me down. Those are coastal access points.

Well, what I want to do this morning is I want to give you three spiritual access points to patience. Three access points past the daily irritations and the minor annoyances that aren't really that big, but they can hide something far bigger and far more beautiful and far more majestic. And I really believe that if you see what James is teaching here to his church, then you're going to be inspired to have patience yourself. You could put it this way. I'm going to give you three macro ideas that are going to help you with the micro irritations. So are you ready to have your vision expanded here? Here we go.

James five starting in verse seven. James starts, "Be patient then, brothers and sisters, with the Lord's coming." What's he talking about? Context. The book of James was written very early, possibly the earliest book in the New Testament. Some scholars believe pre-50 AD. That's a long time ago. And it was probably written by one of Jesus's half-brothers, James. He was leader of the church in Jerusalem. Now, all this is important because these are believers that are, this is like 20 to 30 years after Jesus Christ died and was resurrected and ascended to heaven. And so most of the people that are in the Jerusalem church were alive when that happened, right? And they all believed that Jesus Christ was going to come back right away. And he was going to restore the earth and restore Israel to glory. 20 to 30 years later here, still hasn't happened. And by this point, people are getting antsy. They're getting impatient with God's plan and for good reason because things are getting really bad. Romans are killing Christians and they're starting to get testy with each other too, which is why James has to say, now brothers and sisters, be patient because the Lord's coming, that day is coming. God's got this.

And then instead of giving him sort of how-to points, here's how to be patient, what he does instead is he gives them access points to these grand vistas that he knows if people see the scope of what he is describing to them, it's going to help them to be patient. So jot these down. Number one, he says, there is a longer timeline. There is a longer timeline than I can see. Now watch this as an example, he uses a farmer scattering seeds verses seven and eight. He says, see how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop. Patiently what? Waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too be what? Patient and stand firm because the Lord's coming's near. His point is good stuff takes time. Would you say that out loud with me? Good stuff takes time. It grows in stages. Have you learned this yet? Anything valuable God is going to be doing in your life. Anything comes in stages.

Now as human beings we love the language of instantness. You know, you can get somebody's attention if you can say, you know, this is the final day. This is it. We love instant language. But Jesus is saying, you got to understand and James is saying, everything happens in stages. Marriage doesn't have a one-click solution. Mature children don't come with same-day delivery. And I think James is paraphrasing here something Jesus said in Mark 4:26 because here Jesus is helping his own disciples have patience because they also had this expectation of the Messiah that the Messiah would just come in and kick out all the Romans and start the kingdom of God like yesterday. And he says, guys, here's actually how it works. Jesus says, the kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. This is kind of an elaboration that James is paraphrasing. He's condensing this parable from Jesus. Jesus says, night and day while the farmer's asleep or awake the seed sprouts and grows but he doesn't understand how it happens. And I love that almost little throwaway line. He does his part but how the seed grows actually he has no idea. And you know what? He doesn't have to know because like Jesus said, the earth produces the crops on its own. You don't have to take it upon yourself to make everything happen.

And learning that is such a key to patience in life, patience with others, patience with yourself because maybe the hardest time to have faith is this time period when the seed is in the soil and it hasn't yet sprouted. And you just have to have faith that as somebody said, the purpose is still working when the process is invisible. The purpose is still working when the process is invisible. You know, when I was in third grade in school, I'll never forget it, they gave every single, they passed these things down in class, they gave us all a seed, a little bean and there was a container of dirt and then they gave us all a white styrofoam cup. This was in the days before styrofoam was evil. They gave us all a white styrofoam cup and in class we put the dirt in the cup and then we took the bean, the teacher told us to push down the bean right with your finger. Anybody else do this? Anybody remember this experiment? And then what you did is you took the cup home. This was kind of an experiment to see how well you could take care of your bean and you watered a little bit and the teacher told us a miracle is going to happen and then in two weeks we're going to bring it back and see, we're going to all share what happened. So I took my home and I got so impatient after two days I dug up the seed to look at it. Isn't anything happening? And I put it back, next day dug it out, looked at it. Isn't anything happening? Put it back, dug it out, put it back, dug it out, put it back several times just to see what was happening under the soil and two weeks later when we brought all our cups back I was the only kid in class who couldn't grow a bean. No kidding. I killed it by trying to get it to grow.

And I'll be honest, I've seen parents who have stalled the spiritual growth of their children by trying to over control what is happening under the soil. You got to plant the seed and then let the seed sleep. I've seen pastors kill their churches by trying to over control what is happening in people's lives under the soil. But I have to tell you, I refuse to micromanage your spiritual growth. I've seen people stunt their professional growth this way too. They keep ripping the seed out of the ground. They replant it, here replant it, there replant it, here replant it, there because nothing's happening. Sometimes the biggest problem with seeds sprouting is your involvement. Sowing a seed also means releasing a seed. You just got to let it go for a while.

This is key to patience with people. You know, this Friday, as you heard, Ryan Leaf is speaking at the TLC Mental Health Conference right here on this stage. If you don't know Ryan, he's a famous former NFL quarterback. He got a 31 million dollar contract with the San Diego Chargers then flushed it all down the toilet through his own substance abuse issues. He actually went to federal prison, was sentenced to seven years, and it was there that he began his journey of recovery. And now he works for the Pac-12 Network as a broadcaster, and he also travels around the country speaking on issues of recovery from addiction. I hope you can make it this Friday night. It's just going to be amazing.

But I had a chance to interview him last Tuesday, and he said something so good, something I needed to hear as your pastor, that I said, "I'm going to write that down." Here's what he told me. "René, it used to discourage me so much when I would work with somebody and try to pass on recovery principles, and then they relapsed." And he said, "I felt like I failed them, and I was no good, but I have had to learn I can't control someone else's response. The only thing I can control is I can tell people about my journey and all the proven truths that will help them in recovery. I can be there for them, especially if they want to go through recovery, but I have no control over their response. And I need to hear that as your pastor, and you need to hear that as a parent or a grandparent or a friend. At some point, I can do what I can, and I can plant seeds and I can water, but I can't control what is happening under the soil. And even when I see growth, it doesn't happen instantly.

Watch what Jesus says next. "First, a leaf blade pushes through, and then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens stages." He's saying to his disciples, "Don't give up when it happens in slow stages." And what he's talking about so far were 2,000 years into the stages, and it still hasn't quite ripened. And somebody really needs to hear this today. You know, one Sunday, when our three kids were very little, my wife Lori came into church right through that door into this building, and something happened that she tells me changed her life. She came in just exhausted and frustrated and frazzled because it was one of those Sunday mornings where the kids all refused to do anything. I don't know if they conspire sometimes to do this, but they wouldn't get up out of bed, and then they wouldn't get dressed, and then they wouldn't eat breakfast, then they refused to get into their car seats, and she found her, she said, "René, I literally found myself screaming to the kids, 'Get in the car this instant so we can go worship Jesus Christ!'" Ever done something like that?

And someone saw her, just red-faced and frustrated, and you know who it was? It was Jeanette Craft, the wife of long-time beloved TLC senior pastor Roy Craft. She sees Lori's face and she just gets the kind of morning that Lori must have had, because she goes up to her and she says this, without even asking her, "How's your morning been?" She just puts her hand on her shoulder and says, "Honey, I know it's hard, but remember it's just a season. Try to enjoy it." And Lori told me this morning, anybody could have told me that, but she was a wise older woman who had lots of grown kids and grandkids and had so much proven credibility, and she says that line, it's only a season. Completely changed her perspective. This is a season, and there will be other seasons, but they will only be seasons. Hang on, because the harvest is coming. And somebody needs to hear that here today. Don't throw in the towel. Don't throw up your hands. Don't give up. Don't quit at halftime, you know? Nothing valuable is one click. Life happens in seasons, but one day there's a payoff.

Jesus says, "As soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle, for the harvest time has come." And this is a principle that he's applying to the kingdom of God on earth, but it applies to anything that God is doing. It happens in stages, and then there's a harvest. And I want you to notice what Jesus does not say to his disciples. He does not give them a schedule. He gives them a principle. Let me say that again. He doesn't give them a schedule, he gives them a principle. Think about it. Life wouldn't be much of a challenge if God gave each of us an exact seed development schedule. Can you imagine God sending you a bunch of iCal events that you can accept? Here's the year that you're finally going to get married. Here's the year that you'll at last be able to conceive a child. Here's the year your rebellious child turns around. Won't be till he's 40, but it's gonna happen. You could be so calm if you just knew that, right? But we don't get the exact timeline like ever. Neither did his disciples about the kingdom of God on earth. The only thing Jesus tells his disciples is there is a longer timeline than you can see.

So how does this an access point to patience? Because almost every single time I'm discouraged, it comes from not having a sense of the longer timeline. Almost every time I lose patience with somebody, it comes from not having a vision that God could be doing things in their lives that are under the soil to me. And this is why James says in the next verse, "Don't crumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you'll be judged." The judge is standing at the door. What's this verse have to do with patience? Well, when I get irritable and angry, when people don't seem to be sprouting, James is saying, "Sometimes you gotta let the seed sleep and have hope that one day the harvest will happen, and you don't want to miss that." And so you don't abandon that relationship and you don't stigmatize or sabotage that relationship because you want to be there for the harvest. So don't give up, hang in there.

Then number two, he says, "There is a bigger chess game than I see." There's a bigger chess game. And let me explain what I mean by that. We can be, we can all be like two chess pieces that aren't the chess master playing the game. We're just the chess pieces and we're so focused on the little battle happening in our world, like the four squares immediately around us, that we can forget that God's the chess master and he's playing on an infinitely bigger chess board. And he has strategies and tactics and goals that we are not aware of. Now you might not be a master chess expert, but you probably know that in chess, sometimes it's strategic to lose a piece to win the match.

Watch this, James says in the next verse, "Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord, the prophets." He's thinking of people like just for one example, Jeremiah. He's called the weeping prophet and you would be too if you had his job. Because God says, "I am going to pick you to be a prophet and go out and preach, you know, repent, turn to God." He says, "That's the good news, the bad news is nobody's going to listen to you like nobody ever." And in fact, God tells Jeremiah, "I actually need your piece to lose so that there's a bigger win for everybody down the road." And so Jeremiah preaches and nobody changes, not one person. In fact, they throw him in prison. So was Jeremiah a failure? No. He's now one of the most widely read authors who've ever lived. The two books of the Bible he wrote, God saw those words were going to inspire the people when they came back from captivity because they had new resonance. God saw how there would be centuries of people up into our day, inspired by his words. God saw how his words were going to be prophetic about the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and on and on. God had a way bigger chess game that Jeremiah was a part of than just the success or failure of some individual sermon that he preached.

And we can all get so focused on our own personal battle or whatever the political battle du jour is, and people, there's always going to be another one, or whatever the current cultural battle is, we can get so over focused on that that we forget there is a bigger chess board. God has a way bigger purpose than just that battle. He has a world to save. Sometimes I think Christians forget this, I really do, and we can get so focused on the skirmish that we forget the strategy. Look at this, James says, "As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered." And isn't that true? Think of almost any inspiring documentary you have ever seen. It's almost always about persevering people. And James is saying, "So be one of the inspiring people. Be one of the people who have experienced blessing, because this is how blessing happens. You try and try and try and you overcome obstacles, and then something happens that's so rewarding. Maybe it's different than what you thought you were going for, but there comes a blessing through perseverance.

And as one example, James says, "You've heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about." Now let's think of that just as an example of what he's talking about here. Do you remember Job's story? It's intense. Job loses all of his wealth, all of his health, almost all of his family, and yet he keeps putting one foot in front of the other, and eventually he is restored to health and prosperity. But you got to be careful, because actually the point of the book of Job is not, if you hang on, every single thing's going to get better in life, because that doesn't always happen, right? So what's the point? Well, there's an interesting plot point in the story of Job, and it's this. Something is going on behind the scenes that Job actually is never told about.

Early on in the book of Job, in this story, the scene is heaven, and there's an accusing angel who comes to God and says, "God, you know, you look down, you see these human beings with their temples, they're worshiping you. I hope you understand, God, that the only reason human beings ever worship you is your, their lucky rabbit's foot." And they think if they do that, they're going to get good luck. And when things don't go right in their lives, they curse you, God. You're not God to them, you're just a four-leaf clover, which is a really good question, isn't it? Is God God to you, or is he just a four-leaf clover? You're a good luck charm. Good question.

So God goes, "No, I don't think all people are that way." And then everything that happens to Job in the book of Job is kind of a litmus test, right? Do even the best of humans at the end of the day only see God as a good luck charm? But the point of the book is not even that Job is being tested. The point of the book, as you see at the end in his conversation with God, is that there is stuff going on behind the scenes that Job never sees and never knows. And if he saw the rest of the chessboard, he'd see how it all fits together. But from his little vantage point, God tells him he can't see it, and he never does. At the end of the book, all he learns from God is there is a bigger chessboard that God sees and we don't.

There's so many examples of this all through the Bible, but the biggest example is Jesus's death. The hope for Messiah is now dead. I mean, that's checkmate. Game over. And then in Luke 24, there's a great scene. Two disciples are walking along, and the risen Jesus walks alongside of them, and they don't even recognize him, and goes, "Hey, why so glum?" And they say, "Well, we thought Jesus would be the greatest governor of Judea ever." And now he's dead. And Jesus says, "Well, let me show you something." And he shows them from the scriptures hints of a bigger chess game. He says, "You know, the Messiah had to suffer and die, because actually he didn't come to be governor of Israel or mayor of Jerusalem. He came to be savior of the world." There's a bigger chess game.

So how is seeing this, being aware of this, an access point to patience? Well, think of this. All the symptoms of impatience, anxiety, irritability, anger, they really happen because I think I know exactly what is supposed to happen. But this is a reminder, I don't have the vantage point to see what's really necessary. There's a bigger chess game. And I've had so many people tell me that this has helped them in those moments when you are in life's waiting room. Ever been in life's waiting room? You're sitting there and you're waiting for a child in some way or another. The child's birth, or maybe the child's new birth. Or you're waiting for a healing, or you're waiting for a job. God has a bigger chess game. In fact, the waiting could be part of his bigger purpose. And the more I believe this, the more patience I have with the wait.

And then third, James says, "There is a greater God." And this is really the best access point to patience. He says, "Remember, the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy." The biggest reason to be patient with others is because God is so patient with me. Right? Let me ask you something, raise your hand if you're super glad God has been patient with you in your life. Anybody happy? So was Paul. In 2 Timothy, he talks about this. He says, "I love this verse so much, but God had mercy on me." Watch this. "So that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst of sinners. Because then others will realize that they too can't believe in him and receive eternal life." Love that.

And this is really important now because look, maybe in this Fruit of the Spirit series, you're beginning to sense how much further you have to go, right? We've been talking about love. You're like, "I need to be more loving. Joy. I really need to be more joyful. Peace. I don't have a lot of peace right now. Patience and all these things." And you can feel, "Wow, there's a long way that I got to go." Anybody feel like that in the series? I know I've been feeling like that. And that can feel discouraging. I just want to offer you some encouragement here today that no matter how far you may feel from having the Fruit of the Spirit in your life and no matter how far off the mark you think you are in some area, and you are, and no matter how far you are from changing things that really need to be changed in yourself, I want you to know today God has enough patience to wait while that seed is in the soil. Others might not. Others in your life might not. But God does.

In fact, it's even bigger than that. You know that Jesus referred to what God is doing here in the world as new wine, right? And wine takes patience. Even more patience than somebody growing wheat because there's the slow growth of the plant and then there's the harvest, but then after the harvest even more patience is required as a beautiful vintage matures. Well, Jesus is saying God is a winemaker. And so he has what Paul calls great patience. And this word in Greek means complete perfect. It means God has patience so big that no matter what you do, you can't go beyond it. You can't escape it. You can't outrun it. You can't outlive it. You can't out sin it. His patience has always got you covered. And Paul says, in case you think I'm going too far with that, in case you're not too sure, look at me. And in the two verses before this, he says, he considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him, me. Even though I used to blaspheme the name of Christ in my insolence, I persecuted his people, but God had mercy on me.

And then he just goes off on a riff. Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves acceptance. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst. And talk about an access point. Talk about a panorama. Talk about a vista. Just pause and take in the scope of how patient God has been with you. Man, I don't know about you, but when I stop and stare at the vast Pacific Ocean-sized reservoir of God's patience to me, that helps me a lot being patient with other people. And you know what else? If I really see that, I'm not going to get disgusted with myself. I won't be thinking I'm just a failure. I won't be thinking I'm going to walk around eggshells with God because I fail. He's just going to kick me out because I will understand God is infinitely patient with me. And so I'll be patient with my own spiritual growth and I won't give up.

Now, as we wrap this up, I just want to give you a fair warning because I want you to know that, of course, the way God works on patience in your life is He will put you in scenarios where you have to wait. And I'm telling you, I believe that God is real and I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit. I know it's real. And because of that, you are going to be put in situations that drive you crazy this week. You know, for you, it might happen the week after we study something. For me, it happens in the run-up because I'm working on the sermon. This week, I have stood in more lines and I've been in more traffic jams. Every single line I've gotten into at the post office, the store or whatever, I've gotten a line that I'm like at Costco, you know, that's the short line because there's only one guy ahead of me. Yeah, I got it. And he pays in pennies and I'm like, wow, all week long.

And so what are you going to do with all that? Well, at the start of his letter, James says this, "Dear brothers and sisters, is your life full of difficulties and temptations?" Yeah. "Then rejoice, for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. So let it grow." What he's saying is trials and difficulties, they're never going to stop. You can't change that, but you can't change something. You're out of control of that, but you're in control of something. You know where you have still that agency? Your response. The most important thing of all. He says, "Your patience has a chance to grow, so let it grow."

I saw an interview with the actress Gwyneth Paltrow this week. You know who Gwyneth Paltrow is? She said that after she became famous as an actress, her dad had her over to the house and said, "Well, I'm glad you came, but I had you over for dinner because I have something to share with you." And she said, "Oh, what is it, dad?" He says, "You are becoming the classic Hollywood jerk." And she said, "What?" And then she paused and realized, "He is right. What is happening to me?" Now listen to what she said. She said, "When you achieve the kind of fame that I did by the time I was 25 or 26, the world starts removing all your obstacles because you are now a special person." Now listen to this. Specifically, you never have to wait for anything. You don't have to wait in line at a restaurant. And if a car doesn't show up, somebody else gives you theirs. Now listen to what she says next. "There is nothing worse for the growth of a human being than never having to wait and never facing difficulty." And that's what James is saying here.

Here's the bottom line. Choose to see frustration as formation. Choose to see frustration as formation. Through that, God can form something in you. The irritations will come this week and you can respond to them in full battle mode all the time. "Oh, I hate this!" And ruin your enjoyment of life and alienate everybody around you. Or you can respond with grace. And that kind of gracious patience can only be grown in us by the power of God's Holy Spirit. And so let's ask him to grow patience in us now. Would you bow in a word of prayer with me? Would you just silently pray in your heart, "Holy Spirit, grow patience in me." God, thank you for your patience with me. We confess individually that we are sinners. But thank you that you are patient and that you're growing something inside of us. So help us to be patient with ourselves and with other people. And maybe for the first time some might want to pray, "God, I always thought of you as impatient, but I'm so drawn to your grace and patience toward me right now. And I want to trust in Jesus as my Savior and Lord. And I want you to grow the character of Christ in me in stages. And I pray this in Jesus' name, amen.