God is Patient

What does it mean to be patient? It may be more nuanced than you think!

When I was younger, what I understood about patience was more like the simple definition of patience: the practice of bearing pains and trials calmly and without complaint. As a child, I learned that patience was not acting annoyed or angry when something or someone bothered me or took a long time.

Over the years, I added to my understanding of patience, realizing it is much more than controlling my annoyance and anger at life’s inconveniences and disappointments, but also being gracious about it; continuing to be loving and compassionate when something is delayed due to unavoidable circumstances, or maybe even because of someone’s fault.

This view of patience is much more like the patience God has with us. God is patient with us, and His patience involves all of these things: He is slow to get angry, and He is loving, compassionate, and full of grace for our shortcomings.

I think this is an important distinction because, as humans, merely controlling one’s annoyance and anger in trying times almost inevitably leads to an eventual outburst of emotions and/or a loss of temper, because it does nothing to release the frustration. When we pair patience with love and graciousness, it taps into our empathy for others, realizing that we, too, are in need of the patience, love, and grace of others, as well as of God, which can help divert and diminish our feelings of frustration.

In the Old Testament, the translation for patience is much like the simple definition of not becoming angry or annoyed. Patience is translated as long-suffering in the King James version and as slow to anger in some modern translations, but when describing the character of God, it is frequently paired with love and kindness toward us.

“The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.” (Psalm 103:8; NASB)

“Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;  who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave [the guilty] unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” (Exodus 34:6-7; NASB)

This passage in Exodus is how God described Himself to His chosen people Israel, when they were wandering in the wilderness after He rescued them from their captivity in Egypt under the Pharaohs. He describes Himself as very loving, compassionate, gracious, patient, and forgiving. But He also acknowledges the consequences of sin. Although it may seem harsh to visit the iniquity of the fathers on future generations, I believe that is Him telling us that we all must deal with the natural consequences of our sins. He does not remove them from our lives, and they have the potential to affect much more than ourselves. 

In the New Testament, we are told: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 (NASB). In God’s love for us, He has provided forgiveness and the hope of life eternal in His kingdom through His son, Jesus. He has indeed provided a way for us to be freed from the consequences of sin, in the ultimate sense!

The apostle Paul tells us in the New Testament: “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost [of all.] Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.” 1 Timothy 1:15-16 (NASB).

Paul called himself the foremost sinner because, as a devout Jew, he had persecuted the Christians, killing many before his own conversion to Christianity. So, he’s saying here that Jesus demonstrates perfect patience for sinners who “act ignorantly in unbelief” that they may come to believe in Jesus and his power to save through forgiveness of sins.

Another aspect of God’s patience with us is His willingness to wait for people to believe in Him and want to serve Him. 

“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9; NASB)

The context of this verse in 2 Peter 3 is about waiting for God to fulfill His promises and send His son again to this earth. It has been 2,000 years since Jesus ascended to heaven, and we are still waiting. Right before this verse, we are told “…with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.” 2 Peter 3:8 (NASB). For Him, it is easy to wait and allow as many as possible to come to repentance and be saved. 

But what is the promise that is being spoken of here? God first gave His promise to Abraham in Genesis: that though he was childless, one day all the nations of the earth would be blessed through his descendants. This promise is repeated over and over again throughout the Old Testament, and God did provide a son for Abraham: Isaac. Through this line of Abraham, his ultimate descendant is Jesus, who came as a savior for not only Jews but also for anyone who believes. 

“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ, have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:26-29; NASB)

The good news is God is patiently waiting for as many people as possible to have faith in His son, who by his death on the cross freed us from sin and death, through baptism. We are so blessed to have a God who cares about us and wants as many people as possible to be saved. He patiently waits for us to want to know more about Him and to join His family through baptism. Not only that, but “…we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to [His] purpose.” Romans 8:28 (NASB95).

We can rest in the knowledge that God’s timing is perfect, and when His time is right, He will fulfill all his promises on the Earth. We will no longer have to wait patiently, and our faith will be turned to sight!