Patience in the Waiting: Bearing the Fruit of the Spirit in Every Season

Tears streamed like wet rivers down my cheeks as I stumbled out of our one-bedroom apartment into the thick Georgia, August heat, blinded by grief. Sorrow filled my voice as I sobbed between the prayers. “God, why would you allow me to marry someone who is going to be taken away from me?” My throat tightening with every heave of agony escaping my being. 

Just a week earlier, life felt full of anticipation. I sat in my car at Fort Benning, waiting to embrace Joe after his grueling 62-day trial in Ranger School. I married Joe during a break in his infantry training. Two weeks after marrying, he left for Ranger School with the US Army. We couldn’t speak or see each other for 62 days. It may not seem like much time to be apart, but to an in-love early 20-something, it felt like an eternity. 

I had imagined our reunion a thousand times: smiles and our beginning as newlyweds. Instead, I found myself crumpled in a gazebo, praying through sobs I couldn’t control.

I overheard Joe sharing with his dad that he had been notified by his new battalion commander that, as soon as they arrived in Colorado, he would deploy to a war zone for 12 months. We had spent our engagement apart. Now, after all his training, we would arrive at our new home together to be separated again, not knowing if he would return at all. 

Although I did not hear God’s voice audibly that day, I do remember a prompting in my spirit of a promise that Joe would return safe to me, even if we would be separated for a year. Then, after the humidity broke into a rainstorm, a full rainbow filled the stormy Georgia sky, and it felt like God was speaking right to be in that moment, promising everything would be okay.

When Paul addresses the churches of Galatia, He reminds them that when they stay connected to God, then His Spirit produces fruit:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23, NIV).

As we have spent several weeks studying the Fruit of the Spirit, this week, we will examine patience. The Greek word used for patience in this scripture is Makrothymia, which refers to the ability to respond patiently to difficult situations, people without becoming angry or retaliating.  Patience is the ability to have endurance, constancy, steadfastness, perseverance, especially as shown in bearing troubles and ills, and a synonym for this word would be longsuffering. 

There is a funny adage that says, “If you pray for patience, you will be given opportunities to practice patience.” I don’t think we have to pray for these opportunities to exhibit patience. I think organically we often find ourselves in circumstances of “waiting” on something, someone, a healing, news, or clarity. 

Waiting can feel like wasted time, but it is often an invitation into something sacred. A place of training and growth for our souls. We can give in to the temptation to be angry, fearful, or hopeless, or we can choose to see the waiting as an opportunity to trust God more deeply.

So, when we are waiting and resting in God, our posture should be one of patience and peace. God created us as emotional beings; however, once we feel or identify emotions, it is up to us how we will respond. Our response to the emotion is what dictates whether we are operating out of God’s Spirit or our flesh:  

“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want (Galatians 5:16-17, NIV).

Patience is not only prescribed toward our own circumstances and waiting, but Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, who were a church of both Jewish and Gentile believers, encourages a message of unity to the church:

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2, NIV).

The same Greek word Makrothymia, meaning longsuffering, is used here.  Paul commands this group of believers to have unconditional love and long-suffering toward one another while having a spirit of humility and gentleness. The believers in Galatia would need to recognize that every person is a part of the Body of Christ, flawed and in need of eternal grace, in order to respond with patience toward one another. This leaves no room for anger, bitterness, or unforgiveness toward another. 

So what are we supposed to do with this new understanding of patience?

I would suggest not praying for opportunities to exhibit it. Just kidding. I do think we are given lots of opportunities. When we find ourselves in seasons of waiting, I would lean close to the Lord. If we allow Him, seasons of waiting, are an opportunity for God to carve our character into the image of Christ.  

When we are hurt or upset, I would extend patience and grace toward others even if it feels undeserving. Ask God to see the hurt or situation from His perspective. I cannot express how many times God has been faithful to shift my perspective when I take a moment to humble myself. 

How did my season of waiting end?

I shipped my husband off to war just two days before Christmas. A year later, on New Year’s Eve, I sat in a crowded gymnasium, wearing new blue jeans and a black sweater, my stomach full of butterflies. The soldiers filed in, clad in their Army Combat Uniforms. From the risers, I scanned every face, frantically searching the rows, unable to find him among the hundreds.

So I waited.

I stayed put, hoping he'd come to me.

And then, in the chaos of reunion, he did. My husband came bounding toward me, and suddenly the world shrank to just us, my entire body was wound around him.

We were together. We had made it.

Although this is a summary of our time apart. The waiting in between was challenging. There were moments when I gave in to fear or the stress of the deployment. At times, there was a restlessness in both Joe and me as time seemed to move slowly in our separation. There were days when conversations across the globe were difficult, but we both chose to cling to God and trust Him.  

Sometimes, waiting for the healing, news, or reunion doesn’t come. Perhaps we patiently clung to the Lord and prayed, seeking Him.

I can’t explain why.

But what I can say is this: God never wastes our pain. Not a single tear. Not a single prayer whispered in the dark. Not a single moment of heartbreak.

Often, our deepest wounds become the very places God uses to bring healing to others. Our greatest pain can become our greatest purpose. What once felt like devastation can be transformed into ministry.

God is faithful. And if you cling to Him. His Spirit will bear fruit in your life.

Prayer:

God, you are faithful and good. I thank you that you desire for me to grow and produce fruit. Help me to see moments of waiting as opportunities to respond in patience. Help me to forgive quickly and respond to others with love, patience, and grace, recognizing that I require the same response. Thank you for your son, Jesus, who through His longsuffering, provided for me to be saved and made in relationship with you. I ask that you continue to help me produce the fruit of your Spirit in my life. I praise you and thank you in Jesus’ name. Amen.