Patience with Colleen McFadden
On today’s episode of the Journeywomen Podcast, we’re chatting with Colleen McFadden about patience. Colleen reminded us that patience is the fruit of the Spirit’s work in our lives, not a result of our own efforts. This entire conversation is saturated with Scripture. Colleen McFadden trains women Bible teachers with the Charles Simeon Trust, a ministry devoted to equipping the next generation of Bible expositors. She also serves as the Director of Women’s Ministry at her local church, Trinity Community Church, just outside Philadelphia. Colleen earned a BS in Business Administration from the University of Illinois and an MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. She serves on the board of Matthias Media, a ministry dedicated to raising up and resourcing disciple-makers.
Can you tell us a little about who you are and what you do?
What is patience?
How does God display patience? (Can we talk about the gospel here?)
Where do we see Scripture admonishing us to be patient?
What areas of our lives might we find ourselves struggling with patience? In what ways might our impatience manifest itself?
For those of us who are struggling to be patient--which, if we're honest, is every single one of us--what hope do we have?
What are some underlying reasons we might be struggling with patience?
What, or who, enables us to actually be patient? Where is our strength to actually be patient derived?
How does this particular attribute/fruit work in conjunction with the other fruit we see listed in this famous passage in Galatians?
Many of the listeners are waiting on the Lord. What encouragement do you have for them as they wait?
THREE QUESTIONS I ASK EVERY GUEST
What 3 resources would you recommend for someone who wants to learn more about patience?
What are your 3 simple joys?
Who has had the greatest impact on your own journey with Jesus?
NOTEWORTHY QUOTES
“Patience has two definitions: in one sense being patient by bearing with one another and another way [to understand patience] would be time focused, waiting on the Lord - it is waiting for a bad season to pass.”
“In Galatians 5, it is talking about bearing with one another, being slow to anger but being patient.”
“It’s interesting how patience in the Scriptures talks about bearing with people and enduring but also this sense of waiting and remaining content until the outcome arrives.”
“God perfectly displays patience. God is slow to anger and can bear with his children.”
“It’s easy for us to think how we are impatient but sometimes we think, ‘the Lord won’t be patient with me this time, I’ve gone too far, I’ve sinned too much, I don’t think he’s going to forgive me this time.’ That is clearly a lie from the Devil because it’s so clear that as Paul talks about his own sin how Jesus was able to display perfect patience by saving the foremost of sinners in Paul.”
“It’s really incredible to see how the patience of Christ is really the gospel, that he would save us and be patient with us for his own glory.”
“The fruit of the Spirit is working in us to make us like Christ.”
“While it is the fruit of the Spirit working in us and the Spirit produces these things in us, we are also called to pursue it. We are called to walk by the Spirit. We are to move in the direction where the Spirit wants us to go.”
“Bear with one another patiently to love them even in spite of sin.”
“Scripture is a full story and it talks about the end, the Day of the Lord, and how we are to wait on the Lord. It is a constant looking to the end. When we are suffering it is hard to look to the end.”
“It is sure that the Day of the Lord will come and everything will be made new.”
“As Scripture tells us to be patient, it tells us within the context for when we are impatient. In suffering, I tend to distrust the Lord. I distrust that he has my good in mind and is in control of things. As I read the Scripture, the Lord is the one who created the heavens and the earth and he controls it. He knows the end. As we are called to wait on the Lord, he knows all that will happen. As I’m suffering, I remind myself that he knows the grander picture.”
“We’re not going to bear with another sinner if we think we are better than them. We want our way right away.”
“This is not a general rule, but in Psalm 37, David points out something interesting. Perhaps when we are younger, we tend to be more impatient than when we are older.”
“The older you get, the more you see the mercies of God and perhaps the more quickly patience comes to you.”
“The work of God is a slow work - he doesn’t change us in a day.”
“Every sight of our sin can bring out impatience.”
“We are fallen and we are sinners. But God is powerful enough to change us.”
“The Word of God does the work of God in the people of God by the Spirit of God.” - Colleen McFadden’s Former Pastor
“If we are believers in Christ, he wants to work in us. If patience is something we struggle with, think of learning to play the piano. You have to practice every day. The more you do it, the faster you get better at it. The more you have to exercise patience, the more quickly it will come to you in the future.”
“I long to see Christ portrayed in my life for his glory so people might see him.”
“We must not ever forget that patience is the fruit of the Spirit, it is not the fruit of our efforts. It is the Spirit who works in us. The Spirit is so powerful.”
“Look to the one who displayed perfect patience - Jesus Christ.”
“When we grow weary, we grow impatient.”
“Jesus looked to the end, he had the long-term view and saw the Day of the Lord. I think of Christ on the cross. The cross is the perfect example of patience. He was reviled yet did not revile in return. He was patient and endured what he had to endure, knowing that we would be reconciled.”
“Wisdom breeds patience. Christ is wisdom. The more we grow in wisdom and know the Word, the Word gives wisdom. The Word then breeds patience.”
“When waiting on the Lord is hard, pray. If it is the work of the Spirit, then I should be praying for that to happen.”
“Growing in patience is slow work, and reading the Bible is slow work.”
RESOURCES
Reading the Bible
Being in a Bible Study
A Praying Life by Paul Miller
How Long, Oh Lord? by Don Carson
A Small Book about a Big Problem by Ed Welch
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
What is patience and how does God perfectly display patience?
How have you recently seen the patience of God in your life?
What Scripture reference stood out to you the most during this discussion? Why?
What could be at the root of your impatience?
What encourages you to wait on the Lord?
What will abiding in Christ look like for you this week?
SCRIPTURE MEMORY
“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.”
1 Timothy 1:15–16
IMPORTANT NOTE
Journeywomen interviews are intended to serve as a springboard for continued study in the context of your local church. While we carefully select guests each week, interviews do not imply Journeywomen's endorsement of all writings and positions of the interviewee or any other resources mentioned.
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