Patience

Today's Sunday School lesson is on patience.  I have tried to avoid this lesson but I feel that God is calling me to study this word through Him.
Patience is listed as a fruit of the spirit in Galations 5:22 and this is something that all of us as Christians should be striving for.  Being patient is very easy when everything is going our way but what about when everything is fighting us.
What does the word "patience" mean?  According to Wikipedia it is:
Patience (or forbearing) is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without acting on annoyance/anger in a negative way; or exhibiting forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties. Patience is the level of endurance one can take before negativity. It is also used to refer to the character trait of being steadfast.

In our Bible story today we will read Exodus 32: 1 - 6.

The Golden Calf

 ¹ When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods^[a] who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”  ² Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” ³ So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods,^[b] Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
 ⁵ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD.” ⁶ So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

The Israelites were impatient waiting on Moses to return and decided to worship idols.  Do we ever get tired waiting for God's answer and decide to take things in our own hands?  I know I have and I always make a mess of things when I try to do it my way.

Why did the people ask Aaron to make a golden calf?


James 1: 12 says:  Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him.

How can we demonstrate our patience?  First we need to thank God.  Usually a person's first reaction is to say "Why me?"  But we need to thank God and seek His purpose for us in this situation.   Sometimes God allows us to go through a hard time so we can be a good witness and other times it is to help our faith grow.