What are The Biblical Attributes Of Patience?
Trust that God’s timing is perfect.
When things go our way, it’s so easy for us to be patient. The true test of patience, however, comes when everything that can go wrong goes wrong, and we don't get what we want - how and when we want it. Patience reveals our humility and faith in God’s right timing, plan, and purpose.
Author Barbara Erochina shares how this strength is given to us in an article written for The Life.
The Bible defines patience as “God-given restraint in the face of opposition or oppression.” Patience is only necessary for the face of opposition. This is why seeking patience is in many senses a battle. We can lean on the promise that patience is God-given restraint, not something we are to produce in our own strength. The Lord is the one who provides us with spiritual armor to go into battle. Our only responsibility is to trust that God will provide the strength to hold on, and then act accordingly to our faith in that promise.
We receive this strength by faith. As Christians, we know that the ultimate source of patience, Christ, lives within us by his Spirit. Our role is to trust that the Holy Spirit is giving us the strength to persevere in whatever situation we find ourselves in. This is a provision we can claim by faith as taught us in Romans 5:1-5.
Patience as listed in Galatians 5 is often called long-suffering. The original Greek word is makrothumio, meaning “long temper.” We are to keep a “long attitude” towards God, others, and ourselves. This spiritual posture calls for grace — grace that compels us to trust God, grace extended to others when they hurt us, and grace to forgive ourselves when we stumble and fall.
Patience Originates From God
In Rachel Marissa’s beautiful article entitled, “Why is God so patient with us?”, she shares that her salvation is an absolute testimony of this. She spent the first 19-years of her life seeking pleasure in anything and everything but God. She can testify that God was insanely patient with her, enduring her recklessness for redemption.
For those of us in Christ, God doesn’t show us patience based on our behavior – patience is who He is. He said so Himself: “I am the Lord God. I am merciful and very patient with my people,” (Exodus 34:6). By offering us His patience, He offers us Himself. We don’t “deserve” patience and we sure can’t earn it. God freely gives us patience because He will never cease to be who He is. And get this: because God’s nature is unchanging, He was and is and always will be patient with us.
Peter, of all people, would know God’s patience: “the Lord is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). A couple of verses later, Peter straight up says, “our Lord’s patience means salvation [or, redemption]” (2 Peter 3:15).
God’s patience is necessary for our redemption And we all need His patience today, more than ever. Read more about her journey here on All The More.
Practicing Patience When God Has You Waiting
“I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.”
Since last year, we’ve all dealt with and struggled with uncertainty, unexpected detours, changes, and losses. We’ve experienced more moments of pain and grief than we ever imagined. Despite the challenge to move forward, fast - we’re caught up with reflecting and processing the pain we’ve gone through. And sometimes we get impatient with ourselves, wanting to speed up the process of healing and being impatient with God too…despite this, we need to be reminded to shift our belief in God’s patience because God is always patient with us.
Patience is a virtue
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
Why is patience a virtue? What are the different varieties of patience? Why is patience so difficult at times? And how is patience developed?
These questions were addressed by James Spiegel’s “The Virtue of Patience” article in Christianity Today. He expressed that when we define patience as “waiting without complaining”, it might seem to be a morally insignificant trait. He reminds us that in itself, not complaining carries no particular virtue.
Something else must be required to make one's lack of complaint virtuous. That something is discomfort. It's because a circumstance is uncomfortable for someone that we find her refusal to complain remarkably and thus regard her as patient.
So to improve the initial definition above, to be patient is to “endure discomfort without complaint”. This calls into play some other virtues, specifically, self-control, humility, and generosity. That is, patience is not a fundamental virtue so much as a complex of other virtues.
James shares that Jesus best demonstrate patience in the Bible. In spite of Jesus’ miracles and words of wisdom, his disciples were focused upon themselves and wavered in their belief about who he really was. It must have been so uncomfortable and frustrating for Jesus to deal with.
Yet, his refusal to complain involves humility, the conscious decision to lower himself by not exercising his right, as the Son of God and perfect man that he was, to judge and dismiss his friends because of their faults. We might even say this is a form of mercy.
Finally, Jesus' refusal to complain about his disciples is generous. In spite of their vice and thick-headedness, he remained no less committed to them and served them increasingly as their failures became more outstanding.
“Don’t mistake God’s patience for his absence. His timing is perfect and His presence is constant. He’s always with you”