The word patience means “the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset;” synonyms being “forbearance, long-suffering, tolerance.”
An example of patience is when a person is trying to train a new puppy commands. The puppy will not get it right the first or second time, but it will take many, many times until the puppy gets it right. It takes great patience from the owner to train a puppy. If they didn’t have patience, they wouldn’t get a trained dog when they were done.
Or when Thomas Edison was trying to invent the lightbulb. He failed over and over again trying to make his lightbulb, but he never quit. He continued to have patience even through all of his failed attempts, until eventually he made it work.
We need to have patience with others when they make a mistake. Even when someone does something wrong to you, you need to be forbearing and long-suffering with them, just as God is with the entire world. Instead of getting angry immediately, we need to show them patience.
“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;” Ephesians 4:1-2
Instead of destroying the world, God continues to show the world mercy and patience. Every day that goes by is one more day that He gives another person the chance to change their ways from sin, and turn to His Son.
God waited for 100 years as Noah built the ark. The rest of the entire world was filled with sin and wickedness continually, and he could have just flooded the world right then but He waited for Noah. For 100 years He showed patience, and all for 8 people that would be saved from the flood.
“Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.” 1 Peter 3:20
Every day that the sun rises is another day that God shows the world patience and mercy. He could destroy the entire world right now for all of the wickedness that happens every day, but He doesn’t. God said that He wouldn’t destroy the earth by a flood again, but it will be burned by fire after the Lord comes to receive His believers. But not yet, because He shows patience and waits for more people to believe in His Son.
We wait patiently for the day that Jesus comes and takes us up into Heaven with Him. We don’t know when, but we have His promise and we wait patiently.
“And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 3:5
“And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” Romans 8:23-25
So, we need to show patience with others when they wrong us, just as God shows us patience when we sin against Him. We need to have patience and wait for the Lord to return. Even though we don’t want to wait to go to Heaven, we know that every day there is a chance for one more to believe in His name. Jesus is coming, have patience!
“Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.” James 5:7
In Christ,
Andrew
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 