Articles
The Patience of God
Of the many attributes which God possesses, we may not be more thankful for such a one as is mentioned above: God’s patience.If it were not for His long suffering with us, we would not even exist. That is not to suggest that we deserve His longsuffering, because we don’t. What separates God from man besides His power, sovereignty, and perfection is His ability to bear with circumstances and situations that no one else would. One does not have to think too hard about fitting examples for such situations. Think about the Israelites whom God delivered singlehandedly from the slavery and hardships in Egypt. He saw their suffering and sent 10 devastating plagues against the Egyptians that would set the Israelites free. When a great body of water prevented them from getting to safety, God parted the great waters, so they could live. God fed them with bread from Heaven, water from rocks and He gave them His words to live by.
But they were not satisfied. Instead they complained and grumbled daily. They chased after false gods and idols. They committed blatant evil and wickedness in God’s eyes, and they would not turn back to Him. Even through all this, God’s first reaction was to forgive and bear with the people. Where else can we find such an attitude today? Even among brethren, would we be able to put up with so much? God’s patience is seen on every single page of our bibles and in the words of the prophet of Nahum: “The LORD is slow to anger and great in power.”
We all have so much to be thankful for and perhaps none more so than our Lord’s patience. We all want God to be patient with us and at times we want His wrath revealed unto others. Peter tells us that we are to regard God’s patience as salvation (cf. 2 Pet. 3:15). All of us at some point were on the wrong side of eternity. Aren’t you thankful that God was patient with you and slow to anger? Aren’t you thankful that He gave you time to repent and turn away from evil and do good? Let us all rejoice in God’s patience, but may we never take it for granted. Let us not use that attribute as an excuse to sin and do evil. Rather let us spread the good news to those who are still on the wrong side of eternity and may we encourage them that God’s patience is for them too. This world is so full of evil and darkness. While all won’t be saved, God is still holding out hope for many souls. Thank God for His patience!
