It’s March Madness, which is the holy grail of the college basketball world. If you were to turn on sports radio or television – you would hear pundits, coaches and players alike mention the concept of being underrated, and therefore playing with something to prove – a chip on their shoulder. They use it as motivation. It’s one of the great tools in a basketball coaches arsenal to endeavor to bring out the best in players and teams.

There are many spiritual concepts that are underrated, and my favorite is patience. You might have heard it said, “Don’t pray for patience, you might just get it.” And people are constantly trying to replace patience in the fruit of the spirit with grace or sarcasm or fill in the blank. I joke with people that I’m going to write a book on patience no one will buy, or do a conference on patience no one will attend, and it will be 36 hours of straight silence – just to see if we can endure – haha.

The point is this – patience is amazing. Lacking it will pervert our decision making process. Lack of patience can be a gateway to anxiety, and inconsistency in our spiritual devotion. Patience is one of the core attributes of God’s character (Num 14:18, Ex 34:6, Neh 9:17, Ps 86:15, Rom 15:5, 2 Pet 3:9) – and He is not selective with it. God is patient with everything. He’s never late, but He often passes by opportunities to be early.

You may find yourself in what you feel like is a holding pattern in regard to certain prayers. Be encouraged, the character value of patience is more powerful than we think. You may have heard me say this before, but it is more than worth repeating – play the long game in your spiritual development. You cannot lose – observe the progress God has made in your character throughout the years. He only knows how to win. He’s winning in you.