In His Image by Jen Wilkin
Week 9: Chapter 8 — Patient
Read Chapter 8 of In His Image. Key passages: 2 Peter 3:9; Romans 5:3–5; James 1:2–4; Exodus 34:6.
Previewing Week 9 of In His Image
Read 3 of 8 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 12-week guide when you’re ready.
Patience may be the attribute most universally admired and least universally practiced — and Wilkin's chapter challenges us to see that divine patience is not passive tolerance but active, purposeful, redemptive waiting. Come ready to examine what your impatience reveals about what you actually treasure.
Discussion Questions
8 questions1.Wilkin observes that patience is perhaps the most prayed-for virtue — and the one we most hate to develop, because it tends to be formed through waiting and suffering. Have you ever prayed for patience and then regretted it? What does that reveal about our understanding of how God answers that prayer?
2.2 Peter 3:9 explains God's apparent 'slowness' in judgment by saying he is 'patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.' What does this verse tell us about the purpose behind God's patience? How does understanding divine patience as redemptive (rather than indifferent) change how you read current events and personal delays?
3.Exodus 34:6 calls God 'slow to anger' — literally, 'long of nose' in the Hebrew, an idiom for someone who takes a long time to flare up. Wilkin uses this to show that patience is not the absence of feeling but the discipline of controlled response. What situations most quickly shorten your fuse? What does that tell you about what you are protecting or valuing in that moment?
a.Is your impatience usually with circumstances (things taking too long) or with people (others not meeting your expectations)? What's the difference?
b.What would it look like to practice being 'long of nose' in one specific recurring situation this week?