Patience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I don’t know about you, but sometimes it is really hard to be patient. Right now as you are reading this you might be thinking of something or someone that really tests your patience. Maybe it’s a coworker or family member. Maybe it’s the line at the grocery store or the bank. Maybe it’s the local, state, or federal governement. I don’t know what tests your patience, and maybe you don’t struggle with patience at all, but throughout the Word of God we can see the patience of God on display and we can see how God wants us as His people to be patient.
Have you ever looked into God’s Word and specifically looked at God’s patience? When God made mankind, He made us in His image (Genesis 1:27). At the completion of His creation He said that we as part of His creation were “very good” (Genesis 1:31). But just because we were made in the image of God and considered by God to be good, did not mean we would always make good decisions. In Genesis 3:6 we see that Adam and Eve both chose sin. If this was your creation or your child how would you have responded? To make matters worse, like Adam and Eve, we all have chosen sin at times and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). So God looks down upon His special creation that He made in His image and sees that we all have chosen sin. Has God not been patient with us all?
The patience of God really existed before the foundations of the world because patience is part of the very nature of God and is demonstrated in His overall plan to redeem mankind and save us from our sins. (1 Peter 1:20, Ephesians 1:4). Even in the days of Noah, according to 1 Peter 3:18-20, God waited patiently while the ark was being prepared. Did God want all of mankind to be destroyed? Of course not. His nature was the same then as it is now. He was patient and wanted people to repent. This same idea can be seen clearly in 2 Peter 3:9 where we read about the patience of God and how He wants no one to perish, but instead wants all to come to repentance. God is a loving, patient, gracious, merciful, and forgiving God. Paul speaks to the nature of God in 1 Timothy 1:16 when Paul says that the mercy shown towards him was a display of the “perfect patience” of God and was an example for those that would believe. Every day that we live before the Lord comes back, God is showing us His patience by giving us the time to get our lives right with Him.
While there is so much more that could be said about the patience of God I want us to briefly think about why we should be patient. Patience is something as children of God that we are to put on (Colossians 3:12). Patience helps us bear with people and for them to bear with us (Ephesians 4:2-3). Patience helps us restore lost souls (Galatians 6:1-2). Patience strengthens our love (1 Corinthians 13:4). Patience will see us through hard times (Romans 12:12). If we are are patient and faithful to God in the end we will receive that great reward (Galatians 6:9, Revelation 2:10). So as we wait patiently for the Lord to return we should daily be striving to be more like Him. One of the ways we can be more like God is by living a life guided by godly wisdom and learning to be patient.
Derek Broome