But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5: 22-23

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I was in tough place and needed some encouragement. I ventured up to speak to the a guest speaker at our church. They had ministered beautifully over the weekend and I asked her to pray for me. Instead of praying for me she simply said, “I see that the Lord is working in you the gift of the Spirit of longsuffering.”

On the way home, I told my husband about what she had said and jokingly continued with, “Woohoo, I am developing the fruit of long-suffering… said no one.” We chuckled as we drove away.

Most of us love to talk about the first three mentioned in that list of fruit – love, joy, peace…skip patience…then continue with faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

In the Greek patience (or longsuffering) is a compound word – makro-meaning long and thumia-meaning temper. In other words, you have a long fuse as opposed to a short one. You think through our words and move slowly to the exact solution that the Lord has for any given situation.

This certainly does not describe me as I am usually ready with quick words and easy solutions that will make everything okay. In this particular situation, I felt frustrated and angry.

I invited the Holy Spirit to begin to work in me to provide a change in my spiritual DNA. Many times in the next few weeks I held back my angry words. I waited to see if there would be a better opportunity to help straighten it all out. I began to realize that the reactions of others did not fall inside my scope of responsibility. I was only responsible for my response and could pray for theirs. I felt a greater freedom and love.

The more I studied this concept, the more I realized that God was at work in it all. I began to see that it was no longer as important for me to be seen and heard. I found it easier to forgive those who hurt me because I was seeing that they were acting out of their own pain and insecurities.

This is still a work in progress, yet I am grateful for what God has accomplished so far. As we have faced an uncertain deadline of returning to “normal” due to the Corona Virus pandemic, I can see that God was preparing me to share with many who needed to release their control. It is time to rest and trust with patience.

The best is yet to come!

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Author, speaker, corporate trainer, ordained minister and Hope Catalyst, Karen Sebastian enjoys sharing her rich life experiences with others – engaging them in adventurous discoveries of the beauty of hope in a dark, cloudy world. Her books will inspire you to embrace hope no matter what you are going through. As a caregiver and widow she took brave steps forward to fulfill God’s calling on her life. She has now remarried and enjoys her new hubby and spending time with their children and grandchildren. To increase hope and improve relationships with yourself and those that you love, check out her Facebook page – The Power of Hope.