Patience at the Green Light: A Reflection on Spiritual and Situational Waiting

In Galatians 5:22–23, Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Patience—longsuffering—is not merely the ability to wait, but how we behave while waiting. And for those of us who walk with Christ, patience is not a passive tolerance, but an active trust in God’s timing.

But let’s be honest.

There’s a world of difference between waiting on the Lord for something deep and eternal—healing, direction, breakthrough—and waiting at a green light behind someone who’s too distracted to notice it’s time to go. One feels like spiritual endurance. The other feels like friction between soul and steering wheel.

Why is it easier to be patient with God—whose ways are higher than ours—than with a fellow driver whose turn signal has been blinking since last Tuesday?

Perhaps it’s because when we wait on God, we know we are the ones who are limited. We recognize our need, and we (mostly) accept that His timing is perfect. That kind of waiting is anchored in faith.

But when we wait on people, we often expect them to move at our speed, to know what we know, or to get out of the way. That kind of waiting exposes something else in us—impatience rooted in pride.

Yet even in these small, seemingly insignificant moments, the Holy Spirit invites us to cultivate patience—not just in the grand spiritual sense, but in the ordinary, daily grind. Scripture says, “Let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:4).

It’s not about pretending we enjoy delays. It’s about learning what delays reveal in us.

So next time you’re behind that car at the green light, maybe take it as a gentle nudge from the Holy Spirit—not just to honk or huff, but to check your heart. Is this a moment to demonstrate grace? Is this where patience can grow a little deeper?

Because true spiritual fruit isn’t only seen in sermons or sanctuaries—it’s revealed in the turn lanes and traffic lights of everyday life.