Summer Fruit: The Plum of Patience

July 19, 2015

Summer Fruit:  The Plum of Patience        NOTES NOT EDITED

1Samuel 13:8-15

SIS— Patience is an attitude that allows us to “bear difficult burdens” long enough for God to break through with a blessing.

It’s hard to sum up any of the virtues listed in Galatians 5:22 as the “Fruit of the Spirit.”  Patience is particularly hard because the Bible uses many different synonyms to describe patience, and rarely uses the word, “patience.”  Paul Coelho, a Brazilian writer who has sold over 190 million copies of his works seems to have come to a deep understanding of the idea of patience.  He always wanted to be a writer but his parents were against it.  They wanted him to become an engineer or some such “reasonable” profession like his father.  His opposition to such a “traditional path” path and naturally introspective ways resulted in his parents having him committed to a mental institution on three different occasions.  Each time he escaped until they finally released him at age 20.  He tried to please his parents and enrolled in law school.  A year later he dropped out.  He lived as a hippie vagabond travelling through South America, North Africa, Mexico and Europe trying to find his way through drugs.  Finally he returned to Brazil and became a well-known song writer.  It would not be until he was almost 40 years old before he would finally arrive at his desired destination and become a writer.  The rest they say, “is history.”  I tell you this to set up his quote about patience.  The road to realizing our purpose in life may be long and twisted with high mountains and deep valleys.  Discovering our purpose in life will take patience, and that takes time and trust.  Through all of his long, twisted journey to becoming a writer, Paulo Coelho realized this:

“The two hardest tests on the spiritual road are the patience to wait for the right moment and the courage not to be disappointed with what we encounter.”

This quote echoes what the Bible teaches about patience.  Patience has two primary components, “time and trust.”  The Bible describes patience as,  an attitude that allows us to “bear difficult burdens” long enough for God to break through with a blessing.

In our text this morning we see a “negative” example in the life of Saul, the Israelite King.  He did not exercise patience and it cost him his kingdom, and the blessing of God. 

LET’S READ 1SAM 13:8-15 to see three aspects of patience.

1.  First, we see Patience Commanded (v13)

Samuel said to Saul, “You have been foolish. 

You have not kept the command which the Lord your God gave you.  It was at this time that the Lord would have permanently established your reign over Israel.

If you can reach back in your memory to the sermon on “joy” you will recall that the Bible teaches that joy is dependent upon obedience.  That’s true of all fruits in our lives.  Blessing, or fruit, in our lives always arises out of obedience to God’s commands.  You have heard it said, I’m sure, that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.  Even those that flunked math can see the truth in that statement.  Well, according to spiritual mathematics, the shortest distance from us to blessing is obedience.

How many commands are there in the Bible?  I must confess, I’ve never counted them.  I’m pretty sure there are at least ten.  According to Jewish Rabbis, there are 613.  At least that’s what Wikipedia tells us.  According to the enumeration set forth by medieval philosopher and Talmud expert, Maimonides, there are 365 positive commands, corresponding to the number of days in a solar year.  Additionally, there are 248 negative commands corresponding to the number of bones and vital organs in the body.  This is fascinating to me, not because they came up with 613 commands, but that they did so without bothering to count. 

Now, somebody did bother to count the number of commands in the N.T. and list them under 69 headings.  According to Christian Assemblies International there are 1050 commands, just in the N.T.  Not being Jewish and not trusting the accounting of Christian Assemblies International, I counted the commands for myself.  Well, after a few chapters of Genesis, I decided that according to my estimation the number of commands in the Bible fall somewhere between quite a few and a whole lot! 

Let me ask the question from a different angle.  Instead of asking, how many commands are there in the Bible, let me ask, “Why is there even ONE command in the Bible?”  Did God give us commands simply to make us jump through hoops like circus dogs for His sole pleasure?  Is God simply a “Cosmic Killjoy” that commands us against anything pleasurable, profitable, or fattening?  Does God give us commands to deprive us or defeat us?  Or, does God give us commands to bless us?  Look closely at verse 13 and you will see the answer.  Samuel reminded Saul,

“If you had [obeyed God’s commandment] He would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.”

I’ll say more about the context of this verse in a minute, but notice that the Bible teaches, “obedience to God’s command was intended to lead to God’s blessing.”  Obedience always leads to blessing.  We need to be “patient” and wait on God to break through.  There is some debate over when God specifically made this command but the language seems to suggest the seven day waiting period is that commanded in 1Sam. 10:7-8:

⁷ When these signs have happened to you, do whatever your circumstances require because God is with you. ⁸ Afterward, go ahead of me to Gilgal.  I will come to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice fellowship offerings. Wait seven days until I come to you and show you what to do.”

God, through Samuel, outlined clearly what God expected from Saul and what Saul could expect from God.  Also, note especially, that “waiting patiently” does not necessarily mean “sitting and doing nothing.”  While we are waiting patiently on God we need to be diligent and “do whatever your circumstances require.”  Trusting God does not remove our responsibility, but it guarantees the effectiveness of our actions.

First and foremost we see that patience is “commanded.”  We are commanded to trust God and wait on Him to break through with blessing to prevent us from “stumbling forward on wobbly legs of our own desires and devices.”  God’s commands ALWAYS protect us from the bad consequences of following our own foolish plans instead of God’s. 

If you have not yet grown the fruit of patience upon the tree of your life, it would be highly advisable to resolve today that you will:  1) Gain the knowledge of God’s plan and purpose for your life by reading His Word; and 2) you will wait patiently for God to accomplish His plan and purpose for your life—no matter how long it takes or how hard it becomes.  This leads to aspect number two:

2.  Patience WILL be Tested (11-12)

and Samuel asked, “What have you done?”

Saul answered, “When I saw that the troops were deserting me and you didn’t come within the appointed days and the Philistines were gathering at Michmash, ¹² I thought: The Philistines will now descend on me at Gilgal, and I haven’t sought the Lord’s favor. So I forced myself to offer the burnt offering.”

You can bet that the more you desire to develop the fruit of patience, the more your patience will be tested.  Saul’s faith waivered when he gave too much consideration to his circumstances and too little consideration to his faith in God. 

Verses 1-7 tell us what was happening.  Back in chapter 8, Israel had clamored for a king like other countries had who would defend them from their enemies (1Sam. 8:20).  Saul had been selected as that king, against the admonition of Samuel, the prophet.  Now, Saul was called on to make good on these expectations.  The Philistines, a pagan nemesis of Israel, were amassing an army to attack.  Verses 5-6 sum up the situation:

⁵ The Philistines also gathered to fight against Israel: 3,000  chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore.  They went up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven.  ⁶ The men of Israel saw that they were in trouble because the troops were in a difficult situation. They hid in caves, thickets, among rocks, and in holes and cisterns.  ⁷ Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.

God had promised through Samuel that He was going to eliminate the threat of the Philistines and establish the kingship of Saul.  God was going to work through His prophet Samuel.  Saul was to wait patiently.  Patience is easy when circumstances are bright but it gets a bit tougher when everything goes South.  Saul did what we all tend to do when circumstances get bad—we take matters into our own hands.

Patience is not how we react in good times, but how we respond to difficult times.  As I said before, the word patience occurs rarely as a noun in the Bible.  In fact, the word “patience” only appears a few times in most English Bibles—18 verses in HCSB, 21 in ESV. Hebrew really does not have a comparable word for our word patience.  But, there are several words which describe related issues, like perseverance, endurance, or steadfastness. These words all share the idea of “standing up under some test.”  In fact the English dictionary defines patience as “the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.” 

Another phrase often used related to patience is “long nosed.”  Exodus 34:6 gives us a description of the patience of God:  “Yahweh is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth.”  As in most cases, the Bible describes words, rather than defines them.  The phrase “long nose” (אָרֵךְ arek + אַף aph) uses the most common word for patience in the O.T., “arek.”  It refers to the idea of slowness or restraint in response to difficult challenges or people.  The idea of adding the word, “nose,” may be related to the Hebrew cultural idea of a man’s nose getting read when he is angry.  Hence, patience becomes, “a long time to get a red nose,” or “slow to anger or reaction.”  The Greek word in Galatians 5:22, embodies that Hebrew perspective.  It is μακροθυμία (makrothumia).  This literally means “a long (macro) time to boil (thumos).”  So, in both O.T. and N.T. thought patience involves both a “time” element and an “action or attitude” element.  Thus, patience is both related to how long we wait AND how we wait, or how we respond to the difficult or uncertain times in life.  Patience is ultimately a matter of trust.  It is not just a matter of “idly passing time,” but a matter of expectation that our time waiting on God will be rewarded.  Patience is continuing to work and serve the Lord even when it looks like the situation is hopeless.

Saul’s great error, and the mistake that would keep him from receiving God’s blessing, is that he took matters into his own hands.  Now note that what he did was not a “bad thing.”  He performed the very same religious ritual that Samuel was going to perform—but it brought a curse, not a blessing.  Obedience is not doing good things but doing the things God has asked us to do.  Saul did the right things with the wrong heart and received a curse not a blessing.

All the religious rituals in the world cannot substitute for an obedience which flows from a devoted relationship with God, Himself.  Patience is not a matter of how we react in the good times, but how we act in the tough times.  Patience will be tested.  In fact, it’s the testing that produces patience.  James teaches us:

² Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials,  ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. ⁴ But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

This verse demonstrates how difficult it is to define patience.  The HCSB translates the word, “hypomonēn,” as “endurance.”  The ESV translates it as, “steadfastness.”  The NIV translates it, “perseverance.”  The KJV translates it, “patience.”  This demonstrates the range of meaning related to patience.  The common element is a “testing.”  Patience is developed through overcoming the tests and trials of life by trusting fully that God will come through on time, every time.  Every test we patiently endure makes us stronger.

We all face tests every day.  Our response says a lot about who we are and what we believe.  I remember reading a story about a lion.  As you are aware, lions are the kings of the jungle.  One particular lion wanted to put the other animals of the jungle to a test to see if they really knew who was the king of the jungle.  Not wanting to bother with the little animals, he went first to a bear.  “Who’s the king of the jungle,” the lion roared.  Trembling the bear answered, “Why you are of course.”  “Good. You pass the test,” the lion said.  Next the lion went to a tiger—a massive, splendid looking beast.  “Who’s the king of the jungle,” growled the lion.  The tiger quickly responded, “Why, you are of course.”  The lion grinned and said, “Good.  You pass the test.”  Next on the list was the elephant with skin as thick as armor and legs like tree trunks.  “Who’s the king of the jungle,” roared the mighty lion.  Quicker than a flash the elephant snatched up the lion in his trunk, whirled him in the air five or six times and slammed the lion into a tree.  Then the elephant pounded the lion on the ground several times, picked him up again in his trunk and dunked him in the lake a few times before tossing the lion on the shore.  The lion was beaten, battered, and bruised but managed to say, “Hey, look just because you don’t know the answer is no reason to get mean about it.”

We all face tests in life.  The answers to life’s questions may not always come quickly or easily, but we need to be patient and continue serving the Lord until the Lord breaks through with a blessing.  As you develop the plum of patience, expect that your patience will be tested.

3.  Patience will be Rewarded (13-14)

¹³ “You acted foolishly,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. ¹⁴ But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.”

Had Saul been patient and obeyed the Lord’s command he would have been rewarded with a kingdom over Israel for his lifetime and continuing throughout the lives of his heirs. God delights in giving great gifts to His children.  Rewarding obedience is a key element in God’s relationship to us as Our Heavenly Father.  Listen to what Jesus said about the rewards of a relationship with God (Mt. 7:7-11):

⁷ “Keep asking,  and it will be given to you.  Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds,  and to the one who knocks, the door  will be opened. ⁹ What man among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹ If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

James echoes the same sentiment about the rewards of living in a loving relationship with God (James 1:17):

¹⁷ Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights; with Him there is no variation or shadow cast by turning.

Paul touches on the theme of God’s rewards (Heb. 10:36): ³⁶ For you need endurance [hypomonēs, patience], so that after you have done God’s will, you may receive what was promised.

If Saul had just been patient and waited as Samuel had instructed him, he would have been rewarded with an everlasting kingdom.  Instead, that everlasting kingdom went to another, David, and through David the Eternal King Jesus Christ was born.

Patience will be rewarded.  God delights in giving blessings to His obedient children.  Trusting and waiting patiently may be the hardest virtue to perfect, but it brings unimaginable rewards. 

We’ve examined how important patience is as a “fruit in our spiritual basket.”  Waiting is not easy.  Waiting when chaos is swirling all around you is even harder.  God commands us to be patient.  Circumstances test our patience; but God will always reward our patience.  So, when God says, “Wait,” doing anything else is great folly.  Waiting is not a natural talent for me in any stretch of the imagination.  I’m afraid I am more like Saul than I’d like to admit.  I want to get things done—and get them done yesterday!  I don’t have a lot of “Plums of Patience” in my spiritual fruit basket.  Yet I understand the importance of patience, which really is nothing more than trusting in God to break through with a blessing every time just in time.  Why exactly is patience so important?  Have you ever seen those “pop-up thermometers” that tell you when your turkey is done cooking?  These little knitting-needle-like thermometers are pushed deep into the turkey before the turkey goes in the oven.  They must go all the way into the core of the turkey.  As the turkey cooks the inner core temperature rises.  The thermometer is calibrated to “pop it’s top” when the turkey reaches the right temperature.  The thermometer registers the inner core temperature because if the inner core of the turkey is cooked, then the outside will be as well.  So, the little red thingy “pops up” when the turkey is ready to eat. 

That little “pop up thermometer” is like patience.  Most of us want God to “pop up” and give us the desires of our heart—right now!  But, God knows that we are not “fully cooked” and ready to receive His blessing, so He tells us to wait.  The Plum of Patience guarantees we will be “fully cooked” and ready to be blessed.

Be patient . . . God’s cooking up a great blessing for you!

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