A Watched Pot Never Boils

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever waited in a long queue? We like to get our things done very fast; we never like to be delayed isn’t it? Have you ever had the experience of boiling a vessel of milk? If you wait for it to boil, it seems to take forever. However the moment you turn to something else so that you can catch up with time, the milk spills over.

HF: This morning we are going to see the biblical principle of developing an attitude of patience.

We are living in an impatient world. By the day the world is progressing and inventions are made to make things faster. Many of us now use the microwave to heat food, and some of us find that the one-minute heating time seems to be a very long waiting time. We go for a haircut and we want to be the first one to occupy that chair and get out of it as soon as possible.

Listen, God works in a totally different realm. God has a specific time for every event in our lives and no one can change the timing of God. Many times we try to work out a lot of things faster. We get so worked up and do things ourselves, eventually ending up discouraged, disturbed, and worried just because we do not want to wait for God’s time. See what the Bible says:

Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven. We need to understand that God is in control over our lives and he has a time for everything concerning us. We just got to wait patiently for God’s timing. If we do not develop the art of patience, we may probably get worked up in our life.

Joke: A woman wanted to reach her husband on his mobile phone but discovered that she was out of currency. She instructed her son to pass across an urgent message to daddy who is at work. After the son had called, he got back to mummy to inform her that it was a lady that picked up daddy’s phone the three times he tried reaching dad on the mobile. A lady answering dad’s phone exclaimed the mother! She waited impatiently for her husband to return home. The moment she sighted him, she gave him a very hard slap, while the man was trying to ask why? She repeated the slap, and people from the neighborhood who saw this rushed around to know the cause of this. The man asked his son to tell everybody what the lady said to him when he called, son said: “Daddy that lady said the number u are trying to call is busy at the moment, call again later.” Impatience causes us to be worked up in life.

Luke 21:19 AMP By your steadfastness and patient endurance you shall win the true life of your souls. This verse is talking about how we can win or control our soul. Our soul is our mind, will and emotions. How can we control them?

Luke 21:19 KJV In your patience possess your souls.

Possess means own or gain control of. A patient man can have control over his soul. Our soul is what we think, what we feel, and what we want. When we are in a situation, our minds will start throwing different things at us. Then we lose our cool, lose our patience and start behaving as our mind says. But if we are patient we can control our mind, but developing patience is not all as easy as it sounds.

How to develop patience?

1. Wisdom produces patience.

Proverbs 19:11 A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense. The more we learn about God, the more we mature in Christ, the more we develop patience.

You see, God leads us through different situations in life and develops patience in us because by nature we are not born patient.

ILLUSTRATION

When Sam & Grace were small babies they used to drink milk and wet their diapers at night. Once the diaper is wet they feel very hungry. Both of them never lay in bed and thought “I know my Mom & Dad are tired. I will just wait until a more convenient time to let them know I am hungry or that my diaper is wet.” No, they used to cry and scream impatiently and continue to cry until their demands are met. Children are not very patient, isn’t it?

So we are not born patients. God works in our lives through different situations and develops the fruit of patience in us. The majority of us are more patient now than we were 5 years ago. See, the more you know Christ, the more wisdom you gain, and the more patient you are.

2. Trials produce patience.

ILLUSTRATION

A young Christian went to an older Christian for help. “Will you please pray for me that I may be more patient?” he asked. So they knelt together and the old Christian began to pray. “Lord, send this young man tribulation in the morning, send this young man tribulation in the afternoon, and send this young man tribulation in the evening.” At that point the young Christian blurted out, “No, no I did not ask for tribulation. I wanted you to pray for patience. “Ah,” responded the old Christian, “it’s through tribulation that we learn patience.

James 1:2-3 ² My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

Remember patience is a fruit of the spirit and that fruit can only be developed by the Holy Spirit in us. The Holy Spirit uses our trials to produce patience in us. Every investment of pain and suffering you have endured will cause your patience to perfection.

 James 1:2-5 ² My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. ⁴ But let patience have its perfect work (through trials), that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

 The Bible says that wisdom and trials produce patience. The Bible also says that if you are enduring tribulation and need wisdom you can ask God for wisdom so that you can develop the fruit of patience. If any one of you is going through trials, do not worry. God is with you, he is in the process of developing the fruit of patience in you.

Why do we need patience?

1. Patience is needed to inherit God’s promises.

Hebrews 6:12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

 If we have to inherit the promise of God in our life we need to have faith and patience. Impatient people will quit. Impatience will delay God’s promises in our life.

God promised Abraham and Sarah that he would give them a son. During the course of their journey Sarah grew impatient. She started thinking in her own understanding. Instead of possessing her mind, her mind possessed her actions. She asked her maidservant, Hagar to produce a child for her husband. I believe even Abraham grew impatient here. God’s promise of a son for Abraham was delayed because they acted impatiently.

Moses’ impatience robbed him of the Promised Land. Our impatience keeps us outside God’s will and promise. It is only through patience that we can inherit God’s promises.

Hebrews 6:13-15 ¹³ When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, ¹⁴ saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” ¹⁵ And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. Abraham finally received the promise after waiting patiently.

Ecclesiastes 7:8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.

Everyone here has great promises to inherit, you have a great destiny, but if you want to inherit those promises in your life you need to be patient. If we act in impatience we put off what God planned for us a lot longer. God expects total trust, total dependence, admitting that we cannot do anything, and then waiting patiently for God to work in our lives.

2. Impatience will prevent us from enjoying the present.

How many of you have a tendency of being impatient? Have you seen someone impatient? Just observe them. They cannot enjoy the present because they want to get past the problem and get into the blessings. They just want the next thing to be happy. They say, “I will be happy when I finish my work. I will be at peace when the loan is over. I will be happy when my cooking is over.” Enjoy life now. Do not be happy after you have finished the job; be happy while you are doing the job. Do not be happy when your housework is over; be happy when your work is on.

The psalmist says in Psalm 118:24 This is the day that the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it. God wants us to be happy every day of our life. Every day is a gift from God.

Learn how to enjoy where you are at on the way to where you are going. Most of our life is just the same thing again and again. You go to work on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday; off on Saturday and Sunday, then again it gets back to Monday. You clean the house, it gets dirty and you clean it again. You cook today and again you cook tomorrow. Your children play and spread the toys all over, you tell them to pick them up, and then after some time they throw them all over again. All this is a part of life and many people lose their patience and joy in this cycle of life. So you cannot lose your joy and patience looking for a stress-free life, enjoy every moment of your life, for that you need patience. All of life can be a miracle and happy time for us if we are not anxious about tomorrow, and rush through everything.

Be patient on your way. Even when we have setbacks when things always do not work according to our plans, God has a plan for us, God is in control of our life. So, learn to be patient and accept the place where you are today.

James 5:7-9 ⁷ Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.

The farmer plows the land and sows the seed. He then has a waiting period. This is not an easy time at all; it is a time for hard work. He has to water the field believing patiently that the seed is growing. Day after day he de-weeds, waters, puts manure, and waits patiently till the harvest. What if he got impatient and dug up the seed? What if he got impatient and cut the plant before it flowered? What if he impatiently plucked the fruit before it was ripe? He would have lost the harvest. The farmer waits until the appointed time and until then he does the hard work. Likewise, every day the Bible asks us to do the waiting. Do the hard work (pray, read the Bible, be joyful) and wait patiently.

3. Impatience ruins relationships.

Another reason that patience is so important in a person’s life is; many mistakes are made without it. How many times have we in our relationships jumped to conclusions without first hearing the facts? How many times have we opened our mouth and spoken when it would have been better had we been patient and listened?

ILLUSTRATION

Max Lucado was talking about one time he and his staff had gone to these conferences together. He was really growing impatient and irritated because these two gentlemen in the back kept whispering while he was trying to listen to the conference. All of a sudden the speaker made mention of the two men in the back talking. One man was from somewhere like Romania and the other man was translating everything for him. All of a sudden he had an understanding of the situation and he was much more patient about the talking going on behind him. You see so many times we get irritated and upset and often time act out of our impatience when we don’t have understanding of what is truly going on and often times the damage is done.

I believe love, understanding, and patience go hand in hand.

Proverbs 14:29 A patient man has great understanding.

1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient.

The Greek word used here for patience is literally “to have a high boiling point.” It means that it is loving to be patient, it is unloving to be impatient.

Joke: A worship leader, a musician, and a pastor were out playing golf one day. As they we to the ground they got stuck behind a group of golfers who were taking quite a long time and weren’t letting anyone else play through. Feeling irritated, the three of them went to the club manager to complain. The manager told them that the slow golfers were blind. “It takes them more time,” he said. “Please be patient.”

The worship leader was irritated and got angry at the manager. The musician also got impatient and shouted at the manager. However, the pastor wanted to play immediately, he was very impatient. He asked the manager, “Why don’t you make the blind men play at night?”

Most of us are impatient in our relationships. We are quick to point them out and criticize them instead of being patient and dealing with them in a loving way. Lack of patience has damaged many relationships. Patience isn’t an easy thing. But God wants us to develop it. True love is patience. Patience with your spouse, with your friends, and with those you come in contact with you.

4. Patience qualifies us for heaven.

One of the qualities for a child of God to inherit eternal life is patience. I am not underestimating salvation, baptism and holy life. Those are vital values without which we cannot even be called a child of God. Patience is a virtue that we develop as we mature in Christ. You see we are not all that patient when we are baptized. God develops patience in us through the years which also qualifies us for heaven.

Romans 5:3-5 AMP ³ Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance. ⁴ And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity). And character [of this sort] produces [the habit of] joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation.

Patience develops the character in us for eternal salvation. Patience qualifies us for our eternal home.

CONCLUSION

Develop an attitude of patience. Learn to relax and just accept your condition right now. It may not be a great place. We all have things that we want to see change but if you really believe that God is on your side if you really believe that God is directing you then each one of us is exactly where we are supposed to be. I have seen people who are all the time upset about their condition. They are working on their job, family, children, etc. It is time we turn all that over to God. Our attitude should be Lord I trust you, I know you are in control of my life. I may not understand all that is happening but you know me and you are leading me. So I will be relaxed and patent I believe you are leading me to a great future.

How to handle worry?

1. _____________ your worries.
2. Know the source of our _____________.
3. _____________ your worries on the Lord. Psalm 55:22

How to cast our worries on the Lord?

1. _____________ ourselves.
2. Cast your cares on the Lord.
3. Cast with force. Cast once and for all.
4. _____________ instead of worry.

And with God shows your love. Because according to the scriptures the first thing love is, is patience.
Maybe some of you here today are struggling with patience in your life. God has been so patient with you. Why don’t you let His Spirit work in your life to develop that patience in you? Maybe your impatience has left a negative effect on one of your relationships. They haven’t seen Christ in you. Today would be a good time to say, “I’m sorry.” Patience can stop us from making a lot of mistakes. Won’t you seek it today? Whatever your need maybe our altars are open.

How to develop patience?

1. Learn from God.

God is patient, we out to practice God’s patience.

Numbers 14:18

Psalm 86:15

2 Peter 3:9

You will never have to be more patient than God has already been with you. Notice the verse found in I Timothy 1:16, “I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst sinner, Christ might display his unlimited patience.” If anybody understood the patience of God, it was Paul. Paul was a murderer. He helped murder, Stephen. Paul believed that God turned him around to show His unlimited patience.

The next time you look at your kids and wonder if they will ever grow up, remember God wonders the same thing about you.

Look with me at Romans 15:7, “Accept each other just as Christ has accepted you.” Notice the motive. The reason I must accept other people is because, God has accepted me. The reason I should get along with others is because, God gets along with me. Paul is telling us that the starting point of our patience is to remember the patience God has shown us.

2. Learn to understand.

Understand people, and understand situations.

Read with me Proverbs 19:11, “A man’s wisdom gives him patience.” And then
read with me Proverbs 14:29, “A patient man has great understanding.” If I were you, I would circle the words “wisdom” and “understanding.” Why? I would circle them because the key to patience is understanding. The more you understand that person, the more patient you are going to be.

The more you understand your situation, the more patient you will be about your situation. God does everything for your good.

Learn to relax and just accept your condition right now. It may not be a great place. We all have things that we want to see change but if you really believe that God is on your side if you really believe that God is directing you then each one of us is exactly where we are supposed to be. I have seen people who are all the time upset about your condition now, you are worried about your husband, and you are worried about your job. It is time we turn all that over to God. Our attitude should be Lord I trust you, I know you are in control of my life. I may not understand all that is happening but you know me and you are leading me. So I will be relaxed and patent I believe you are leading me to a great future.

See if this part is needed: Impatience leads to works of the flesh. Works of the flesh are the works that you do that do not work for you. Works of the flesh and works of God do not match. If your work are not working, get a new plan. Our works can interrupt God’s plan. God may postpone things if we work by ourselves unless we realize that we cannot work without God’s approval.

If you are an impatient person and you do not know how to wait well then you will not enjoy your life. Because the truth of the matter is you are always going to be waiting for something. Whatever it is that you are waiting for right now, sooner or later it will come to pass and you will be happy and then you go into another waiting process all over again. We have the fruit of patience inside of us, if we ask God and cooperate with the Holy Spirit, it will produce the fruit of patience and we can enjoy our life.