Proper Stimulus

Spiritual Skill: Patience (wk. 11/13)

Reading: Hebrews 10:32-36

In fitness, results come from applying the proper stimulus. If the weight is too light or the pace too slow, your body won’t adapt. To get stronger, you need resistance. To build endurance, you need to sustain effort under fatigue. Progress requires stress – not random stress, but the right kind of load at the right time. The same principle applies to spiritual growth, especially when it comes to patience.

Patience is not passive. It’s not waiting around, hoping for things to get easier. Patience is the process where we develop the character of God. And just like in the gym, that process requires load. Hebrews 10 reminds us that believers were praised not for avoiding hardship, but for enduring it – for holding onto their faith in the face of insults, persecution, and loss. They didn’t grow patient in comfort. They grew patient under pressure.

That’s how God builds patience in us – by applying the proper stimulus. Not to break us, but to strengthen us. You don’t develop patience sitting in ideal conditions. You build it when you’re stuck in traffic, when the healing doesn’t come right away, when the breakthrough is slower than expected. Those aren’t just inconveniences. They’re spiritual workouts. They’re the “load” that forces you to dig deeper, lean harder into God, and stay rooted in His promises when your emotions want to erupt.

And if we’re honest, most of us don’t like that kind of training. We’d rather skip the long line, fast forward through the waiting season, or lift something lighter. But light loads don’t build real strength. Want to develop patience? Let God place you under the weight of something that takes time. That might look like staying faithful in a season that feels fruitless. It might mean staying quiet when you want to prove your point. It might mean continuing to pray when it feels like nothing is changing. That’s where patience is formed. That’s where you learn to hold your ground, to stay connected to God when you’re not seeing the results yet. It’s all about time under tension.

So, when life feels heavy, remember – the load isn’t the obstacle, it’s the opportunity. Let it do its work. Because when it comes to building patience, you don’t grow in spite of the resistance. You grow because of it. Embrace the load, and trust God that it’s the proper stimulus.

Questions for Reflection:

What is challenging your patience right now? How do you see God working in that challenge?

Where do you excel at being patient?