A famous study in the 1970s presented young children with a single, clear instruction: You can eat the marshmallow in front of you now or wait and receive a second one later.
While the Stanford Marshmallow Experiment was geared towards children, it presents all generations with timeless lessons. One of those is the value of patience, and the reward which, more than food, many people have enjoyed when feeding this virtue. Certainly, for each child sitting in that chair, the thought of double the prize was a worthy foil against the immediacy of taste, and the choice presented a sincere predicament.
Yet while there exist admirable, universal truths in this study, there are also sincere differences for the Christian. One of these, relevant to this piece, is the meaning and reception of patience. In the Stanford Experiment the children were driven by tangible, temporal products. For the believer, patience is attached to spiritual and eternal truths.
Let patience have its perfect work.
In Chapter one of James, James writes: “But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:4 (NKJV)
Perhaps the first thing to note is that in God’s kingdom, patience is a work God does rather than a virtue we must apply. It is a fruit we let waste or one we allow to blossom through the acceptance of God’s ways.
We stifle the plan of God through our own lens of timing.
In the experiment, naturally some children ate the sweet immediately, unable to wait for the reward. Similarly, as believers, we may forfeit the reward of patience by turning our back on the work of God, believing a better channel exists for his will to be complete. We stifle the plan of God through our own lens of timing, unwilling to wait for the gift of his finished design.
In contrast, there were children who did wait—doing all sorts of things to avoid eating the marshmallow. Some squirmed, covered their eyes, sang, or distracted themselves via funny contortions; all to postpone the struggle of delay. But they were rewarded.
As believers it is the same for us even though submission to God’s ways is not comfortable. We may not contort, cover our eyes or sing, but our hearts are tested as our natural assertions are withdrawn. Perhaps it is why David speaks of the value of a broken and contrite heart; a heart that contorts as it yields to the perfect work of God.
As we embrace this labor of patience, it allows God to complete his aims.
In our verse above, a closer look at the word "work" suggests that as we embrace this labor of patience, it allows God to complete his aims and endeavors in our lives. For a believer, none of the issues we endure are without purpose, and there is as much value in the work of patience as there is in the outcome of God’s plans. Such truths explain why James says we may be perfect and complete.
In contrast to the world, the believer’s inheritance is spiritual, consummated at the return of Christ yet begun on earth as we accept God’s work. It is here that we begin to inherit the life of Christ—a life we gain neither through the covering of our eyes or the gritting of our teeth but via the road of patience which assists our endurance to the end.
Patience... a craftsman eager to work with us to achieve God’s plan.
"Teleios" is the Greek word James uses for perfect. It is a word which beautifully unpacks a God who views our lives with an intended purpose and outcome. In fact, James personifies patience, painting it as a craftsman eager to work with us to achieve God’s plan: let this craftsman work perfectly, he writes, so that you may inherit the fullness of God’s desires—the life of Christ in us.
As we give room to this craftsman, God produces men and women who are perfect and complete—fully mature and more like Jesus. Of course, this does not mean we are wholly rid of sin but, rather, that we become the fully mature product God intends us to be.
Paul, driven by a father-like desire, writes to the Galatian church that his first wish is for Christ to be formed in them. Such a goal is possible only when we allow patience to craft a full day in our lives.
God further uncovers the extent to which he will go.
Through James, God further uncovers the extent to which he will go—not only that we are perfect but fully perfect, lacking nothing. In a world driven by tangible, material gain, we are taught to place higher value on the product more than anything else.
But for the believer, the love of God affords as much a spiritual purpose in the path as in the product we receive at its end. For God, there was as much a spiritual purpose for the children in the experiment to gain from the waiting as there was to enjoy in the additional marshmallow.
It is worth pausing to ponder the sincerity of God’s heart for believers. That he longs for us to lack nothing is clearly unpacked when Paul writes, He "has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ…" Ephesians 1:3b (NKJV).
A life that resembles him holds everything.
What are these blessings but the very attributes of Christ. A life that resembles him holds everything, even though the world may have a different view. Once more, it is the work of patience which affords such a beautiful product. The call is to endure so that patience is able to work.
In 2 Timothy 2:10a, Paul writes that He endures "all things for the sake of the elect" (NKJV). The original word for "endures" encourages believers to "remain under" the pressures of life as these form the building blocks of a strong, sincere faith.
Patience is not a passive resignation.
Isn’t it fascinating that the words "endure" and "patience" share the same semantic family? In many contexts they are inextricably linked. When we appreciate this similarity, we appreciate that patience is not a passive resignation.
Rather, it is an active attitude which understands that God is at work in every situation, and that such a work is not the byproduct of injustice but often within the purpose of a sovereign God.
Biblical patience bears fruit to eternity.
This understanding is the fruit of patience. While the situation may be hard, it accepts God’s grace as sufficient and attaches us to his vision for every believer—the image of his Son Jesus Christ in our lives. Without this vision, patience has no sincere place in the believer and becomes a worldly idea of just putting up with things. Biblical patience bears fruit to eternity while its counterpart must grit its teeth through the here and now.
Before our third child was born, we had settled on the name Mayah. We chose it because of its Hebrew meaning: "from" or "close to God". After a few weeks, she began to lose movement in her left side, until eventually we took her to see a pediatrician.
This was the first of myriad trips to doctors, both in South Africa and online. The prognosis was bleak: Mayah appeared to have a rare disorder that would result in profound physical and cognitive disabilities.
It was difficult to reconcile such a dark diagnosis with the truth that God’s work is interminably perfect.
It was difficult to reconcile such a dark diagnosis with the truth that God’s work is interminably perfect. I remember the many mornings, pushing her in the baby chair and grappling with what God had allowed. All of the spiritual, emotional, and practical thoughts formed the bedrock of my life until slowly I began to accept his plan.
Three years later, if you ask me what I remember most, it is not necessarily the miracles we saw in Mayah when she began to develop healthily. What I can remember, and what I do carry, is the brokenness of heart, which came through the realization that God is in control, not me.
We have full access to everything of the grace of God.
It is the more sincere prayer life, and the tangible relationship I developed with him. Nothing in this world can replace that. It is what the perfect work of patience, as it molds and crafts, affords believers. As we allow it, we lack nothing. On the contrary, we have full access to everything of the grace of God.
During our most difficult times, perhaps we resemble someone like Abraham, climbing to the top of the mountain with a desire to answer God’s plan. Whether we are nearing the top or just entering a test of faith, one thing is certain: as we endure, and afford patience its perfect work, we will inherit, not only the end of God’s purpose but the fruit that grows on the way.
As believers, we are not like children waiting for the fluffy substance of marshmallows or the temporary treats that fill us. In the Kingdom of God we are waiting with hope for eternal truth, truth that as we endow with patience, we inherit in eternity with Christ. What a vision to work towards, and what a victorious reward our patience delivers!
Greg Kyle has been a dedicated high school educator for 16 years and currently serves as the Head of Student Affairs, specializing in History and English at his High School. He is also a pastor in a church in South Africa. With a passion for the well-being of children and adolescents, as well as that of adults, he has spent years addressing the challenges people face, both personally and spiritually. His commitment has extended to writing, having contributed to newsletters and essays over time as an educator and pastor.
