Patience

 I must confess that I am not very good at patience.  I do not really know anyone who is.  Some are of course better than others - people who are more patient in certain areas, but I think most people I have met have at least one area where we want things now.  One of the most common areas where people find it hard to have patience with is when something goes wrong with our health and we have to wait for test results.  A friend of mine recently went through this.  A test on Friday and then no results until the middle of the following week.  I recently went through this multiple times during a summer fight with cancer and chemo.  And waiting under stress is a terrible feeling.  

And yet patience is more than a virtue, it is a fruit of the Spirit of God.  So as we grow in Christ, God is going to cultivate this quality in us.  And unfortunately the only way it seems to grow in patience is to have it tested.  Not a fun experience.  But when it is being tested, we have the ability to properly focus and praise God for the fact that He is growing us into the likeness of His Son!  And so take heart and have patience.  God is at work in you for your good and His glory!