Patience is the capacity, habit or act of being patient as defined by Merriam-Webster. According to the same dictionary, to be patient then is to 1) bear pain or trials calmly without complaints; 2) manifest forbearance under provocation or strain; 3) not be hasty or impetuous; 4) remain steadfast despite opposition, difficulty or adversity; 5) be able or willing to bear. That is a lot of definitions for one word! These definitions all have in common the idea of bearing, being immovable, being steadfast in difficult situations. In the bible, another word used for patience is the word longsuffering. Longsuffering is a combination of two words “long” and “suffering” and together simply denote a suffering that lasts. Someone that exhibits longsuffering is able to endure lasting offense or hardship (Merriam-Webster). This is a characteristic that comes from God and shows who He is. He is longsuffering. Throughout this week, this attribute of God jumped out to me from everything I was reading and even during the discussions I had around the word, everything was centered on the longsuffering God we serve. I do not plan to write much today but I simply want to expand on this attribute in order to stir our hearts to thanksgiving worship because without His longsuffering we would be long gone.
It is impossible to read the bible without seeing the patience of God. One of the main battles of our flesh is the fight to be patient and to wait. No wonder patience is a fruit of the spirit because it certainly does not come from the flesh. I love that when we display and develop the fruits of the spirit we are being the image of God because we reflect Him then. I am always amazed at the fact that God does not ask us to do something that He does not do Himself or that He has not done Himself. He does not ask us to be something that He Himself is not. We serve a God who is True, and He leads by example. The patience of God or His longsuffering for you might be too common to the point where you dismiss it or take it for granted but let me tell you how marvelous it is for you and me.
Ecclesiastes says that the Lord has made everything beautiful in its time (Ecclesiastes 3:11). This verse tells me that God has a time and a purpose for everything. No wonder He is able to forbear situations or circumstances because of His longsuffering character. Since God does not live within time but outside of time, He is able to not be affected by time. One of the reasons we become impatient is because we experience delay. The patience of God really has nothing to do with us, He is patient because that is His character and He has a set time for everything. He follows His ways which are not ours. The bible has many instances of God’s patience towards His people. Often time, it makes no sense to our minds but that does not stop God from being who He is. There are many prophets that God sent to His people to call them to repentance and to warn them of the upcoming judgement. Whenever the people would reject the message of a prophet or kill the prophet, God would send yet another one. I wonder how many prophets were killed by the people of God because they did not believe the message of repentance or of judgement God had for them? What’s more, whenever the prophets of God would be killed, the nation would continue in their sins disregarding the warnings of the Lord. The history of Israel is filled with ups and downs when it comes to returning to the Lord their God. It never seemed to be a complete return, it was always short-lived. But even in that, God, displayed His longsuffering. He endured the scolding, the insults, the desecration, the blaspheming of His Name for the “Day of Salvation”, the “Day of Redemption”. You see, Isaiah and other prophets had prophesied of a coming Messiah, one with the iron scepter who would judge with equity and righteousness and of which the kingdom would know no end (Isaiah 9:7; Luke1:33). Jesus came to make an end of the vacillation we saw in the lives of God’s people who were always half-devoted because of their sin. Jesus came to ensure we are totally and completely sold out to the Lord. Indeed, Jesus came with the final judgement where the separation between those that are the Lord’s and those that are not will be made clear and absolute. We live in an in-between period of time because on one hand, those of us who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ have experienced spiritual cleansing and deliverance from the power of sin but on the other hand we still live in the flesh which means we still experience the effects of sin in our daily lives although our freedom is guaranteed; we have been given a new life, we are new creatures yet we still see the brokenness of the old and we fight with the power given to us the schemes of the enemy (Ephesians 6:10-18). However, the kingdom of Christ is here and it does know no end. Christ has promised to come back and judge this world and when he comes back, the time for longsuffering would be no more. Therefore, today, is the day of salvation. Peter says that “the Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). God’s longsuffering is for our good, He wants us to come to repentance because a day will come and is coming when there will be no opportunity for repentance, His longsuffering will not be at work anymore, it will not be possible then because judgement will take its place.
When it comes to Jesus, his longsuffering is displayed in his wait for his bride –the church. As Hebrews says, for the joy set before him, Jesus endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2). This means, Jesus was looking forward to the joy that would be his when all this would be done. There is not a person on earth that is eagerly awaiting his bride like Jesus is for the church, no one can be as excited as he is to meet with his bride at last, yet he chose to be patient so that his bride would be ready for that day. What a gentleman! What a God! God’s longsuffering is for our good. Our response is to simply thank Him for such goodness, to praise Him for such a gift of His grace and to quickly repent if we have not done so yet in order to be part of His family. Father, may your Name be glorified. Thank you for being longsuffering towards sinners like us. Thank you for the grace to experience and show longsuffering as we yield to your ways in our day to day. Amen.
A Word Aptly Spoken 