My Splinter
🌎 The World Before the Word
It wasn’t a major conflict.
Just one of those small moments that comes after a long day.
She asked the same question again.
The same explanation had already been given.
The same issue had already been addressed.
And before thinking, the response came out a little sharper than intended.
Not yelling.
Not harsh.
But unmistakably irritable.
The kind of tone that says, I’ve already dealt with this.
The conversation moved on.
But internally there was a quiet recognition.
Fatigue had shortened the remedy which is patience.
The Old Reflex
The old reflex is subtle justification.
It’s been a long day.
I gotta get this done! (usually more like, “I’d rather do this”)
None of those explanations are entirely untrue.
But they also quietly normalize impatience— actually it normalizes what your impatience revealed— your crappy attitude.
Over time, small allowances shape habits. I know folks that are irritable about every weather condition imaginable and they make it known.
And those habits eventually shape character.
🌿 The new Covenant Posture
A living sacrifice pays attention to small moments of formation.
Under the New Covenant, transformation happens in the daily responses that often feel insignificant.
Patience is not merely a personality trait.
Patience is your “surrender” practice.
That means noticing when irritability appears.
Not with shame.
Not with harsh self-criticism.
Simply with awareness.
Then adjusting.
A softened tone.
A slower response.
A renewed willingness to extend grace.
These quiet corrections keep the heart aligned with Christ.
📜 The Word
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
📖 Galatians 56:22-23
Paul writes to believers learning to live by the Spirit rather than by reactive human impulses. Patience appears among the Spirit’s gifts because it reflects God’s own character — steady, enduring, and slow to anger. That’s the Kingdom we seek!
If you think about it— without patience all those other wonderful things are difficult to receive.
“ Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.”
📖 Ecclesiastes 7:8
You don’t need the second line to understand the first. How you leave things is the gift to the company you keep. You may get irritated at a person, place, a thing, but when it’s all over, or better yet, in the midst of it and you transform you are going to come out better for it!
The second verse is the tool used to form the outcome. Patience is strong medicine for an unsettling event.
The prideful are those that say, “I had a long day, so I’m irritated, and don’t talk me out of it.” Why?
🤵 Pastoral Word
To be perfectly honest— this topic is about me. You may not know it but I get pretty darn irritable— I’m not hardly mean but you’ll know when I’m impatient. Just ask my wife.
And why is that? Well, I’m not one for small talk. I don’t have to repeat every story that I live and I don’t need to hear yours. Bring me a topic that kicks in the natural dopamine drip and I’ll be hard to get rid of! If I’m focused on something and you want to share a recipe with me, you are guaranteed my stink eye.
My wife has been my thorn when it comes to this— the thorn was the thing that reminded Paul to be humble— yea, my wife fits that roll. She likes to tell me every little detail about everything. Her gregarious nature is like a hot poker in my ear sometimes. Not her fault I get irritated, that’s all on me. Her joy has helped me to tune my patience. She reveals where I need to grow.
Grace doesn’t just grow in prayer closets. Sometimes it grows right in your living room.
My irritability has made me friendlier and more patient because I have to work on it.
🙏 Let's Pray
May your spirit move steadily through the moments of today.
When interruptions appear,
when explanations must be repeated,
when small frustrations gather at the edges of your patience—
May calm wisdom guide your response.
May you recognize that many of life’s most important formations
happen in the smallest interactions.
Not in dramatic tests,
but in ordinary irritations.
So may your words remain gentle.
May your tone remain steady.
May your spirit remain unhurried.
And as patience quietly grows within you,
may it reflect the patient heart of God—
a heart that meets weakness with grace
and responds to frustration
with enduring kindness.
Amen
🔥 Carry this With You Today
Patience grows through surrendered reactions.