10. Group Questions 1.In which areas of your life does impatience tend to surface? Give examples of situations that provoke impatience in you. 2.Jerry.

10

Group Questions1. In which areas of your life does impatience tend to

surface? Give examples of situations that provoke impatience in you.

2. Jerry Bridges says that people & situations do not CAUSE us to be impatient or irritable. “They merely provide an opportunity for the flesh to assert itself. The actual cause of our impatience lies within our own hearts, in our own attitude of insisting that others around us conform to our expectations”. Do you agree with this statement? Why or Why Not? Why is understanding this perspective so important?

3. Read Genesis 16:1-6. How were Abram & Sarah impatient? What were the results? What should they have done instead?

ImpatienceA strong sense of annoyance at the (usually) unintentional faults and failures of others.

It is often expressed verbally in a way that tends to humiliate the person who is the object of the impatience.

IrritabilityThe person who easily & frequently becomes impatient is IRRITABLE.

1 Corinthians 13:4-5Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;

Galatians 5:22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Ephesians 4:1-3I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace

Colossians 3:12-13Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

John PiperThe opposite of impatience is not a glib, superficial

denial of frustration. The opposite of impatience is a deepening, ripening, peaceful willingness to either

WAIT for God where you are in the place of obedience, or to PERSEVERE at the pace he allows

on the road of obedience – to Wait in His Place or to Go at His Pace.

2 Temptations in Impatience

1. To Give Up, Bail Out2. To Take Hasty, Impulsive, or Reckless

Alternatives

Psalm 130:5I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;

Isaiah 30:1-3"Ah, stubborn children," declares the LORD, "who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; who set out to go down to Egypt, without asking for my direction, to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame, and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.

Isaiah 30:15For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, "In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength." But you were unwilling…

Isaiah• (49:23) – …those who wait for me shall not

be put to shame." • (64:4) – From of old no one has heard or

perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.

• (40:31) – but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Charles SimeonIn this state of things I saw no remedy but faith and patience. The passage of Scripture which subdued and controlled my mind was this, "The servant of the Lord must not strive." It was painful indeed to see the church, with the exception of the aisles, almost forsaken; but I thought that if God would only give a double blessing to the congregation that did attend, there would on the whole be as much good done as if the congregation were doubled and the blessing limited to only half the amount. This comforted me many, many times, when without such a reflection, I should have sunk under my burthen. (Charles Simeon, by H.C.G. Moule, p. 39)

2 Options for Responding to

Impatient Irritable People1. Follow the Example of Jesus

2. Lovingly Confront the Person

1 Peter 2:23When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

Jerry BridgesThis should be done only when you have resolved the issue in your own heart and can speak to the other person for his or her benefit, not just to make your own life more pleasant”

1 Corinthians 13:4-5Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;

When Do We Tend To Become Irritable?

1. When we are PHYSICALLY WEAK2. When we are UNDER PRESSURE

Ray PrichardAn irritable spirit tends to show up when we’re under pressure. Most of us treat people pretty well when we’re relaxed. But as deadlines loom and work piles up, we turn from Mary Poppins into Cruella De Vil and from Andy Griffith into Mike Tyson, except that we don’t bite off someone’s ear. We go for the whole head.