Hello, My Name Is Patience

Gateway, can you make some noise for Jesus this morning? Come on. How many are grateful that His mercies are new every morning? Come on, then He put breath in your lungs. Don’t stop clapping. Give some noise for the Alpha and the Omega. Come on, you’re here this morning. Come on, praise Him and put some praise on His name.

Today we’re going to be continuing in our series, “Hello. My Name Is.” But if we’ve never had a chance to meet, my name is Ricky Echeona. I get to be the campus pastor in Buda, and today we are talking about God’s patience. Come on, say with me: God’s patience. We’re going to continue in Exodus 34 in just a second.

I’ve got to admit, as we talk about God’s patience and His timing this morning, I’ve got to confess something to you before we get into the Word. Confession time: I’m Latino. Some are like, “We know, okay?” I’m not going to speak for every Latino person in the room. If you’re Latino in the room, make some noise. There you go. I’m just going to speak for me and my family. If we said, “Imma be there in five minutes,” it don’t mean five minutes. Time doesn’t work the same. It’s kind of like Interstellar; it’s just a little different in Latino families. Many of you come from different ethnicities, and you’re like, “No, that’s Nigerian time,” “That’s Indian time,” “Sri Lankan time.” Come on, can I get an amen?

In my family at least, listen, we didn’t run on Eastern Standard Time or Central Standard Time. We ran on Cuando Quiera. That is Spanish for “when God wants it, that’s when it’s going to happen.” Grandma said the quinceañera started at two—no, it starts at 4:45. Blue’s Clues, read between the lines, right? Because as a pastor, you got to show up on time for people; I get it, that’s part of my job. But outside of being a pastor, if you invite me to a party, I’m not showing up on time out of general principle. I am not showing up on time because if I show up on time, you expect me to work. How am I going to show up before the tablecloths are on the table? That’s free labor. We had enough of free labor growing up.

You know why Latinos are not on time? Because we’re tired. If you grew up in a Latino household, you’re not on time because you are tired—not because you’re lazy, not because you’re not respectful, but because you are tired. That’s why. And you don’t want to work for free by showing up at 2 p.m. when the invite says 2 p.m.

I was born and raised in the States, but I grew up with Panamanian parents. So although we were in America, we weren’t in an American household. Those of you who were born and raised in the States by American parents, God bless you. You had things different; you had a life of luxury. On the weekends, you grew up with this magical word called “sleeping in.” That was not the case for most of us born in Latino families. We were woken up with a broom and Windex: “¡Es un nuevo día, a limpiar!” Today is cleaning day. Don’t be like “Amen”—I’m still traumatized!

Latinos will show up late to anything. We will show up late to your intervention. Your uncle shows up late like, “¡El whiskey me está llamando mucho! What are we here for?” We’ll show up late to whatever. I had to tell my family when it was time to get married, “It says 2:30, I want you there at 2:00.” Some of them were still late, and Latinos will be late and still try to get a good seat. Some of y’all are laughing because you showed up to the 11:48 service!

There’s this magical word full of robust meaning in the Spanish lexicon called ahorita. Ahorita is the diminutive of ahora, which means “right now.” But let me tell you, ahorita does not mean right now. The Urban Dictionary definition of ahorita for Latinos could be no less than 20 minutes, or anywhere from 5 to 10 business days. “When are you going to bring my car back?” “Ahorita.” I’m just letting you know. So if you are married to a Latino or Latina, or you’re friends with them, just have patience on that.

Here’s the crazy part: we want the benefit of the doubt and patience when we are late, but let you make your mom late to church! Ain’t no patience then. “Hurry up!” All of a sudden you got a welt on your head because you made your mom late, and she’s late everywhere! How does that work? We’re in here singing “Jesus be the name”—no, Jesus be an ice pack, I got a bump on my head!

Our relationship to time and patience is often tied to our ethnicity or our family of origin if we’re not careful. But in preparation for this message, as we dive into God’s patience and God’s timing, when I actually looked up the phrase “slow to anger,” it wrecked me a little bit. Because “slow” doesn’t mean “late.” In the Hebrew, to get a little nerdy with you, the phrase used for “slow to anger” means “long of nostrils.” It gives this connotation that when you get angry, your nostrils flare up; but God is slow to anger, He is patient.

God is not being late. When we relate to this topic of patience, some of us come in here with baggage regarding God, thinking He’s being late. The truth is, He’s being patient. God is not up in heaven operating like, “Where are my keys at?” There is an intentionality and a purpose behind what we perceive to be His slowness. Lateness and slowness in God’s economy are two different things.

My lateness never saved anybody. My lateness has caused arguments, missed flights, and uncomfortable eulogies (that’s another story). But God’s slowness isn’t Him being unprepared; it’s Him being restrained on purpose because He’s after something bigger than your clock.

For some of us today, we’re operating under a false sense of who God is. Some of us walked in this place wayward, far from God, or a little jaded because we’ve perceived our circumstances as God not showing up when we asked Him to. That’s why I love that we’re in this series. A.W. Tozer says, “What comes into your mind when you think about God is the most important thing about you.” Some of us have operated with a false identity of God, and it has caused us to operate in a false identity of self. Now we see a God who is either angry at us, quick to punish us, or a God who is up in heaven twiddling His thumbs with no concern for our lives. We think His slowness means His lateness or His absence. But I’m here to remind you of who He truly is.

Exodus 34:6–7: “And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished.'”

The part we’re zooming in on this morning is “slow to anger.” We’re tuning in to God’s patience. Say it with me: His patience. I fought everybody on the teaching team to take this topic—there were no contenders, but I beat everybody I faced! Why? Because if we’re being honest, this isn’t a topic we love to talk about. Nobody goes, “Yep, that’s me, patient.” Patience isn’t one of the top 500 words you would use to describe me. But I’m thankful that we’re not talking about me this morning; we’re talking about God and God’s patience.

How many of y’all are grateful that God is patient, that He’s been patient with you? That He’s been merciful toward you? The Bible says He has forbearance, He is longsuffering toward you. He’s been patient with you whether you’ve realized it or not. Every time you’ve asked, He’s been patient through every mess, through every fire—even when you were holding the matches. Through every “If you just get me out of this,” He’s been patient with you. We’re grateful for God’s patience.

Exodus 34:6–7 is probably one of the most quoted passages of the Old Testament. Over and over we hear God is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, patient, abounding in love. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it; it shows up everywhere throughout Scripture. Psalm 145 says, “The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.” He is slow to anger, He is patient.

John tells us in 1 John that God is love. If God is love, then we must look at the definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13. The very first word used to describe love is: “Love is patient.” Even if you’re unfamiliar with Christianity or reading the Bible, you’ve heard this at every wedding.

It was read at every wedding except mine. Why? Because I gave my Latina aunt one job. I said, “I need you to read 1 Corinthians 13.” I was trying to be inclusive of my family, but I didn’t prep her or practice. It was a low-budget wedding; we were 20 and 22 with $400 to work with, so practice wasn’t a thing. I just told her, “Show up on time, read these passages.” She showed up on time, thank God. But my tía gets up there with her glasses on the Caribbean neck-string and starts reading out of her King James Bible: “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not…” At this point I’m like, “Who is Charity, and why is she in your Bible?” “Charity doth not behave itself unseemly…” Someone get this woman an NIV with 72-point font, please! Thirteen years later, I’m still afraid to break the news to her. She’s almost 90, Pentecostal, and in better shape than anybody in this room; I am afraid of her!

Because love is patient and God is love, God is patient. Turn to your neighbor and say, “God is patient, but I ain’t.” Turn to your other neighbor and say, “God said wait, and I said how long?” Tell the person in front of you, “God said trust my timing,” and I said, “Can I get a Google Calendar invite, though?” I trust that the blessing is coming, but I’m going to check that tracking number three or four times!

Some of us need to be reminded of who God is—that He is patient and slow to anger. Yet when we hear that, there is a dissonance inside of us. We instantly become aware of our own impatience with God, with other people, and with ourselves.

Any time a pastor or podcaster says, “We’re living in 2026 at a speed we were never meant to live,” we go, “Yeah, sure, hurry up and tell me what else I need to know.” We are consumed with speed, convenience, urgency, and comparison. We say, “I don’t have time for patience.” We live in a microwave society, but we’re working with a crockpot God.

When we hear that God desires patience to exist in us, it grates on us. On the surface you say, “I love that God is patient with me.” But when you peel back the layer that He is patient, it means He doesn’t work on your timeline or in your framework. That’s what bothers us most: when God doesn’t do His will our way.

The fact that He is patient means you and I can live differently. We can unplug from hyper-control, hyper-urgency, anxiety, and anger. Fundamentally, our impatience with God, others, and ourselves is a control issue. In revealing Himself this way to Moses, Israel, and us, God is saying: “Slow down and get to know Me. Stop trying to control everything. I am slow to anger, patient with you, and abounding in love.”

What does it look like to surrender to a God like this? Let’s look at what Peter says in the New Testament. Peter was a guy who couldn’t wait five minutes without swinging a sword and chopping off an ear, yet when pressed in the courtyard, he said, “I don’t know Him.” That same Peter, transformed by the Holy Spirit, writes to a persecuted church:

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:8–9)

Peter is writing to people who are done waiting. They are persecuted, exhausted, watching evil seem to win, wondering, “Jesus, You said You were coming back, so where are You?” Peter tells them, “You’ve got the math wrong. What feels like delay to you is not delay to Him. It’s not that God is slow; it’s that He is patient.” Slowness implies being behind schedule, but patience implies He is exactly on time and using what seems like a delay for something you can’t see yet. His patience is not passivity; it is purposeful for your life. He is after your repentance, your endurance, and your hope.

First, God’s patience gives us time to turn. Every day that God does not bring down the hammer isn’t Him letting you get away with something; it’s Him giving you space to come back home. Consider Cain in Genesis 4. Abel brought an acceptable sacrifice; Cain brought leftovers. When Cain got angry, God asked him, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

God opens with a question about Cain’s anger. God knew Cain’s anger was just smoke over a fire of rejection, comparison, feeling unseen, or feeling like he’d never measure up. Modern psychology has finally caught up with the Bible: anger is usually a secondary emotion. It’s an alarm bell that goes off to protect us from feeling shame, hurt, grief, fear, or powerlessness. Anger feels strong, so we reach for it instead of the softer, scarier emotions underneath.

Dads, when you get angry over spilled juice, it’s not about the juice. Moms, when you get angry about the dishes, it’s not about the dishes. Coworkers, when you reply-all in anger, it’s not about the email. It’s about feeling disrespected, unseen, unworthy, or out of control. When that driver cuts you off, you need God’s real peace to deal with what’s underneath. Patience gives you time to turn and address what God is trying to heal before you make a decision you can’t take back.

This summer, I went on an eight-week sabbatical. During a silent retreat in Belleville, Texas, I was in solitude asking God, “Why do I feel the need to control everyone around me? Why do I rush to anger with the people I love most?” In my heart, I heard Him gently say, “Oh Ricky, that’s easy. That’s because you don’t trust Me. You don’t trust that I’m good and that I’m going to take care of you, so you think you have to do it all by yourself.” It wasn’t a voice of rebuke; it was gentleness and patience. After hours of soaking in His Word and enjoying Him as a son, I found myself saying, “God, I trust You.” So much of our anger and impatience stems from control. We want God’s patience toward us, but we hesitate to dispense it to others.

Saint Augustine famously prayed, “Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet!” That’s been all of us: “God, be patient with me while I figure this out, but change my spouse, my kids, and my finances right now.” Where is everyone else telling you that you have an anger issue, but you act like it’s no big deal? It’s God’s mercy bringing it to the surface so you can turn.

Second, God’s patience gives us grace to go the distance. Some of you are in a waiting season. You’ve turned to Him, but you’re waiting on a marriage to heal, a diagnosis to lift, or a prodigal child to return. You don’t just need forgiveness; you need endurance. Look at Jonah in Jonah 4. When God showed mercy to Nineveh, Jonah was furious and prayed, “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love… Now, Lord, take my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” God replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

Jonah was angry because God was exactly who He said He was. Underneath Jonah’s anger was fear that God’s mercy to his enemies made his own suffering meaningless. All anger is rooted in a perception of injustice. But His patience gives us endurance through trials, and His timing builds character. If God answered your request on your timeline, what started as a blessing might turn into a curse. If I gave my seven-year-old the keys to my car, it would cause a wreck. God isn’t holding out on you; He is building endurance so you can handle what He has for you. When you can’t trace His hand, trust His heart.

Finally, God’s patience trains us to wait strong. Isaiah 40:29–31 says, “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak… those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Notice the progression: soar, run, walk. Walking—the daily grind of trusting Him on an unremarkable Tuesday—is often the hardest part. Waiting is not wasted time; it’s training season. If you are waiting on the Lord, you should be getting spiritually stronger. Keep showing up, keep serving, keep gathering in community, and keep surrendering. He is not slow; He is sovereign.

Paul writes in 1 Timothy 1:15–16: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.”

The cross was the culmination of God’s timing and patience. Jesus was slain before the foundation of the world. Sin didn’t catch God off guard. God didn’t lose His patience with you at the cross—He spent it on you. You can relinquish control and let His patience give you the endurance to run.

May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus, so that with one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ