Nobody likes to wait.

In fact, most of the innovations we see in the world today are aimed at decreasing or eliminating waiting. A silly example, but consider how different an experience we have in going to the movie theater today as compared to just ten years ago.

A decade ago, you would go to the theater and wait in line to buy tickets. Then you would wait again for your tickets to be torn. Then you might wait in line again to buy concessions. Then you would wait again through the previews for the movie to start.

Then there’s today – you purchase your ticket through your phone before you go. You walk right in past the ticket scanner to the theater. You order concessions beforehand and have them delivered to your seat. And if you don’t want to wait through the previews, you can find an online listing of exactly how many previews and how long they are so you can arrive at the time when the movie actually starts.

You could run that same exercise in most any industry or experience and find the same thing – we hate waiting, and anything that decreases the amount of time we have to wait is embraced as positive.

Now I suppose in one sense, that effort at eliminating waiting is a good thing – it’s a recognition, even if it’s subconscious, that time is our most precious and most limited resource. That all of life is a ticking clock. And that given the scarcity of that resource, we don’t want to be time-wasters.

But on the other hand, the constant effort at reducing or eliminating time limits the exercise of one of the characteristics the Holy Spirit is producing in us as Christians – patience.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law (Gal. 5:22-23).

Typically when we think of the fruit of the spirit we skip over a few of them. Love and joy get a lot of press time, but we don’t think a lot about patience. But there it is, alongside all the other traits the Holy Spirit is growing in us. And make no mistake – He is growing them.

Fruit doesn’t just pop out on the tree one day; it is a process. And it’s a process that includes external, environmental factors. Those factors, combined with the health of the tree, eventually produces fruit. And this is a helpful reminder to all of us who cheer on the latest innovation in time saving. It’s a reminder that patience is grown over time.

Now to be clear, there’s nothing wrong with utilizing what’s available to us to make the most of time. But it’s also a caution to us that going faster is not necessarily going better. Even though there are a multitude of things that are more efficient now than they ever have been before, we are always going to be in situations in which we have to wait. And many times, those situations are reminders of just how little control we have of our lives.

Think less about wait times in movie theaters and more about praying for some significant change to happen in life. Think about praying for the spiritual awakening of a child. For a change in career. For a long lasting illness or chronic pain. These are times in which we are going to be found waiting.

But, like fruit, these are also external, environmental factors that, when combined with our own spiritual health and vitality, produce fruit through the influence of the Holy Spirit. These are the means by which fruit is grown.

So, Christian, if you find yourself in such a season of waiting, embrace what is being grown in and through you. Remind yourself that with God, no time is wasted time. He is always working. Always moving. Always growing.