People’s struggle with patience is often the result of them having their own agenda. They have in their mind the things they want, and schedules predetermined by them. Anything conflicting with their agenda causes them to become agitated. They become very impatient when events and circumstances are contrary to their plans. Anyone who interferes with the agenda is subject to an irritable response in many cases. The individual involved may be unaware of the purposes and plans of the other, leaving him vulnerable to backlash. The one with the agenda may very well make him acutely aware of it.
Agendas are the result of our will. Patience is the result of love. If we do not base our agendas on love, or at least execute them in love, impatience may result. Secondly, if we are being self-willed or ignoring the will of God, we may find it very difficult to maintain peace. If we are to walk with patience, we have to deny our self, pick up our cross and follow Jesus. There are no two ways about it; peace comes with submission to the will of the Father. Trying to accomplish our self-based agendas and trying to conform others to our will is not the way of peace.
Timetables can also disrupt our peace and corrupt our patience. Even when we are trying to conform to the will of the Father, and yet insert self-imposed time restraints, we will find patience eluding us. Part of the reason is that we have just taken over. We changed the will of the Father to our own will, instead of letting His will be our will. We have to remember that His will has a timetable of its own. That timetable is the one we are to be following, and sometimes that requires patient waiting. If we procrastinate while claiming that we are waiting on God, or if we try to get ahead of schedule peace will also elude us. When we are submitting to the will of God, we will then find peace and patience operating in our lives. Go outside His will; they will escape us.
