Perfect Patience - Jesus

God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life.

1 Timothy 1:16

A friend of Phillips Brooks, a nineteenth-century American preacher, once saw him feverishly pacing the floor in obvious frustration. “What’s the trouble, Mr. Brooks?” he asked. Brooks shot back, “The trouble is that I’m in a hurry, but God isn’t!”

Some of history’s great men of God have struggled with impatience. Yet the Bible tells us that patience is one of the fruits we’ll exhibit when we are filled with the Holy Spirit (see Galatians 5:22).

Jesus was filled with the Spirit of God, and he was the most patient man who ever lived.

Jesus lovingly ministered to the worst of sinners, dealt with the cynicism of corrupt religious leaders, and shepherded twelve often-clueless apostles through three years of traveling around Palestine, preaching God’s salvation.

He did all that with patience beyond human understanding.

When you read through the Gospels, you can see that the Twelve often acted like little kids who couldn’t hear a word Jesus said and who certainly couldn’t apply much of what he taught them.

At times, Jesus chided his apostles for their lack of understanding, but he always patiently prepared them to take the reins after he returned to heaven. That way, the world could continue to hear the Good News.

The good news for you today is that you serve the very same Jesus who always extends incredible patience to those he loves.

Are you a patient man? You can best learn patience by understanding that God daily extends his patience to you, even when you make unwise choices.