Wednesday, June 16: How long have you suffered?

Driving in daily, Southern California traffic tests anyone’s patience. Half of the people are in the left lane, going slower than the speed limit and the other half are dangerously swerving in and out of traffic, trying to beat the system. It seems that everyone has much more to do than the prescribed amount of activities in a 24-hour day. Most people are running late, rushing in and rushing out. I can’t help but wonder if all the advancements in technology, created to save us time, aren’t in all actuality causing the opposite effect. We desperately need patience to get through each day. Patience is closely related to another attribute.



One of the fruits of the Spirit is longsuffering, makrothymia in Greek and erekh appayim in Hebrew. The Hebrew word reveals the deeper meaning, as the literal translation of that phrase is “long of nose” or “long of breathing.” When angry, most people breathe quickly through their nostrils, as if snorting. Yet the Lord is described as “slow to anger,” in Nehemiah 9:17, Psalm 103:8, Psalm 145:8, Joel 2:13 and Nahum 1:3. With His ability to wipe us out in a moment without any effort at all, coupled with our propensity to mess up, His longsuffering may be the attribute of God we should be most thankful for!


As Christians, we are to emulate our Creator. Personally, this is a challenging area in my daily walk.


But those who wait on the LORD
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
 Isaiah 40:31

Waiting on the Lord involves walking beside Him, not running ahead of Him. There are times when we pray about an issue, and when we don’t hear an immediate answer from God, decide to step out in faith. Yet God’s timing is so different from ours, with a thousand years being like a day and a day being like a thousand years in His sight, according to Psalm 90:4. Many in my family prayed for my salvation for over 20 years. Thankfully, they never gave up and God answered that prayer in His perfect timing.


Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!
Psalm 46:10


I remember playing “frozen statues” as a kid, when one person would spin us around and let go, and then yell, “Freeze.” We would lock ourselves rigidly into that random pose of a statue. There are times when God is telling us to freeze. How long do we need to be still? Until He answers, for God opens the doors and closes them. Wait on Him patiently and know that His longsuffering has given you the greatest gift.


…and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation…
2 Peter 3:15


Are you willing to suffer for the salvation of others?


He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.
Proverbs 16:32