Virtues for Christ-Followers: Patience

God’s patience is found all throughout Scripture, and in the New Testament we are called to cultivate this virtue in our lives, as we learn to be patient as well. Patience is interconnected with the other virtues, as we see in the beautiful “love chapter” of 1 Corinthians 13 that “love is patient,”¹ and when we practice patience toward others, we are also showing kindness, compassion, gentleness, and humility. Patience is a work of God’s Spirit that empowers us to endure difficult situations and face the pressures of life without losing calmness and composure.

The word patience is often translated as endurance, the ability to stand up under adversity, and as perseverance, the ability to progress in spite of adversity. The Bible provides us examples of people who patiently persevered in difficult or trying circumstances, such as Job, David, Jacob, and Joseph, who all faced adversity with patience and trust in God, setting an example for believers. “Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”²

The following articles highlight these principles.

God’s Process

Christians find process troubling. We want to rush people through their grief. We’re uncomfortable when forgiveness takes time. We look for instant healing and push for total transformation in others without any incubation period.

Reflecting on the birth of Christ, here’s what I realized: Jesus becoming a baby automatically put God’s seal of approval on a slow process.

The angel announced salvation to the shepherds, but what they saw in the manger was an ordinary-looking infant—an infant who needed time to grow up. It would be more than three decades before the meaning of God’s redemption plan would be visible.

In the intervening years, Jesus had to endure teething and potty training and puberty. He had to learn to walk and talk. He had to experience sleepless nights and countless conversations and calloused hands and fish breath and stubbed toes.

Why would God do that? Why not send his son as a grown man who went straight to the cross, or at least straight to his public ministry?

Jesus spent the bulk of his earthly life in process, “growing in wisdom and stature,” as Scripture says. … That means God’s full and unreserved blessing must rest on process as well as completion. The “becoming” was as much part of his plan as the ending. Grace for slowness is built into the very nature of the Incarnation. …

We complain about God’s delays. But remember what Peter says: “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9 NIV).

When we bought our house 12 years ago, the builder was pumping out homes at a record pace. That was just fine with us; we couldn’t wait to move in. But some aspects of homebuilding weren’t intended to go quickly. We learned that when the sewage pipes backed up five days after we got the keys. To this day there are “character flaws” we live with in the house, [due] to rushed construction.

God moves slowly for our good. What is needed on our part is not patience but surrender.

God is at work even when I don’t see it. [That] creates room to be gracious with other people, because we’re all in process. If God isn’t expecting you to have arrived already, how can I set a higher bar for you?

One of the cries of the Bible is “How long, O Lord?” But Jesus coming as a baby gives me permission to accept—and yes—even enjoy my own slow progress.—Jeff Peabody³

God’s Master Plans

In Acts 17:26 (NIV) the apostle Paul talks about a plan that encompasses every plan ever made. He said, “From one man, [God] made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.” In other words, from the very beginning, God had a plan: the act of creation wasn’t haphazard. God wasn’t in need of something to do on a Sunday afternoon, so bang—the earth! There is an overarching plan that is being played out every day of humankind’s existence on planet earth.

But there’s something even more personally awesome in this for you and me: every human put on earth was an intentional act of creation. God is a planner; He has plans for everyone. King David affirms about God, “Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”⁴ And in a talk Job gives describing God’s nature, Job says to God, “You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer.”⁵

Imagine God planning out Moses’ life. Chapter One doesn’t have Moses parting the Red Sea; it actually doesn’t even start with Moses receiving God’s directives at the burning bush on Mount Horeb. There are roughly 80 years’ worth of chapters and pages that come before either of those events. When studying Moses’ life, it’s easy to marvel at the 40 years Moses spent tending sheep—we think of how patient he must have been at the end of that ordeal. I’m realizing now that God is the one who exemplified the virtue of patience in this story. Imagine creating a character that would only be ready to do what you planned for him to do 80 years after his creation.

In a letter to the Romans, Paul calls God “the God of patience.”⁶ God is described as patient and longsuffering in the Bible; it’s one of the characteristics attributed to Him. If God was that patient with His plan for Moses, and His plans for all of mankind, I’m thinking it’s not a far stretch to imagine that God wants us to also be patient with what He is doing in our lives. If God believes we’re worth the wait, then we should believe that too.—T.M.⁷

The Patience of Job

In a society in which we prize instant everything, waiting for anything seems old-fashioned and maybe even distasteful. But patience is a deeply biblical concept, the practice of which has the potential to allow us to live wisely and well in a fallen world, trusting in the purposes and promises of our good God. The Bible instructs us to be “imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:12). Job is one of those highlighted in Scripture for his remarkable patience.

In the Bible, Job is a godly man who God allows to go through many trials. He loses his wealth, his health, and his children, and his wife and friends question him and turn against him. Through his many losses and sorrows, Job wrestles with questions and doubts but stays connected with God through prayer, actively waiting on God to bring him through the season of intense adversity.

He declares: “Though he slay me, I will hope in him” (Job 13:15), and “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:25–26).

In the end, Job’s patience is rewarded. Though God doesn’t fully explain the “why” of everything that has happened, he vindicates Job by rebuking Job’s friends for criticizing him and restoring Job’s family and fortunes. In the book of James, believers are encouraged to emulate Job: “You also, be patient. … Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful” (James 5:8–11). …

Job is not the only one commended for his patience in the Bible. In the same passage in James where [Job] is mentioned, it also says: “As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord” (James 5:10). The book of Hebrews mentions that “Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise” (Hebrews 6:15).

The example of Job and others in Scripture who demonstrated patience can be instructive for our own lives as we seek to cultivate God-honoring patience instead of demanding instant-everything. …

Some of the most beautiful moments in the book of Job are when he expresses his faith in the goodness of God’s character despite the fact that he is not feeling that goodness at the moment of his prayer. In the same way, when we are experiencing what feels like clouds obscuring the goodness of God, we can trust that His goodness remains, as certain as the sun which will shine again…

And we [can] pray along with Paul: “May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy” (Colossians 1:11).—Jessica Udall⁸

Persevering Patience

It’s hard to imagine that a man with a gentle grin and a small, crippled body could turn the world upside down. Yet William Wilberforce, once described as “a shrimp,” did—but not by might.

The slave trade in the late 1700s involved thousands of Africans, hundreds of ships, and millions of pounds; upon it depended the economies of Britain and much of Europe. Few were aware of the horrors of the so-called “Middle Passage” across the Atlantic, where an estimated one out of four Africans died.

Wilberforce was aware, and he was deeply disturbed.

In May 1788, Wilberforce, with the help of researcher Thomas Clarkson (whom Wilberforce praised as central to the cause’s success), introduced a 12-point motion to Parliament indicting the trade. But the motion was defeated. Planters, businessmen, ship owners, traditionalists, and even the Crown opposed the movement. Abolitionists were viewed as dangerous radicals.

Yet Wilberforce refused to give up, introducing another anti-slave trade bill in 1791, which was also defeated.

Another defeat followed in 1792.

Another in 1793.

Others still in 1797, 1798, and 1799. And in 1804 and 1805.

But gradually the public came to support the abolitionists’ efforts, and in 1806 Parliament abolished the slave trade throughout the British Empire. Wilberforce wept in joy.

Not one to rest on his laurels, he next set his mind to the freeing of all slaves. This too required remarkable persistence. But in the summer of 1833, Parliament finally passed the Emancipation Act. Three days later, Wilberforce died.

Wilberforce and his allies (he never acted alone nor took credit alone) managed to rid Britain, the greatest world power of the day, of the greatest evil of the day—and only with the steady application of faith, politics, and persistence.—Mark Galli ⁹

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This type of enduring and persevering patience has a strong connection to hope. We are patient in trying circumstances because we believe that the Lord will give us grace and will in His time bring us through to victory, just as He did for the forefathers of faith. As Paul taught in the book of Romans, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”¹⁰ And James speaks to letting patience complete its work in our lives: “Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”¹¹

The following quote illustrates this principle:

The fruits of the Spirit are the perfect picture of who Jesus is and how he acts: “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23 NLT).

So how does God produce this kind of fruit in your life? He puts you in situations that are opposite of the fruit he’s growing in you. It’s easy to love people who are lovely; God will teach you love by putting you around unlovely people, so you have to learn love. During periods of grief, you’ll learn joy. You’ll learn patience when it’s tested.

God wants to build character in your life. You might want the process to be quick and easy, like a vending machine. A vending machine gives you what you want immediately, but much of what it offers is just junk that will harm you in the long run. How God works is the opposite of a vending machine. It’s slow and sometimes difficult, but over time it will build strong character in you.

Remember that growing up spiritually is a lifelong journey. Be patient.—Rick Warren¹²

Another area which calls for patience is tolerance of others’ shortcomings, faults, and failures. Everyone has shortcomings, ourselves included. Patience in this case is tolerating the shortcomings of others that we find annoying. We are to patiently make allowance for each other’s faults, out of love.¹³

It’s helpful to remind ourselves that God is patient with us every day, and not just with our personality quirks, but with our sins as well. He doesn’t get angry or annoyed at our faults and failings; rather, in His love and mercy, He is patient with us time and time again. As His followers, we are called to similarly extend mercy and patience to others, and to do to others what we would like them to do to us,¹⁴ as Jerry Bridges points out:

“Every day God patiently bears with us, and every day we are tempted to become impatient with our friends, neighbors, and loved ones. And our faults and failures before God are so much more serious than the petty actions of others that tend to irritate us! God calls us to graciously bear with the weaknesses of others, tolerating them and forgiving them even as He has forgiven us.”—Jerry Bridges

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“Nothing but seeing God in everything will make us loving and patient with those who annoy and trouble us. They will be to us then only the instruments for accomplishing His tender and wise purposes towards us, and we shall even find ourselves at last inwardly thanking them for the blessings they bring us.”—Hannah Whitall Smith

“When the Bible speaks of patience, … it speaks of it as a virtue that goes far beyond the mere ability to await some future gain. It involves more than the rest or peace of the soul that trusts in God’s perfect timing. The patience that is in view here focuses more on interpersonal relationships with other people. It is the patience of longsuffering and of forbearing in the midst of personal injury. This is the most difficult patience of all.”—R.C. Sproul

A Prayer for Patience

Lord Jesus, the old meaning of patience is “long suffering,” and you indeed suffered infinitely rather than give me the punishment my sins deserved. You have been unspeakably patient with me. Let that truth make me patient with people around me, and with my circumstances, and with your every disposal of my life. Amen.—Tim Keller

Food for Thought

“Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer” (Romans 12:12 KJV).

“Waiting is difficult, but if you are going to walk with God you have to cultivate a heart of patience to wait upon Him.”—James K. Saah

“Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus” (Romans 15:5 KJV).

“Patience is the transcendent radiance of a loving and tender heart which, in its dealings with those around it, looks kindly and graciously upon them.”—Billy Graham

(For more on the virtue of patience, see More Like Jesus: Patience. To be continued.)

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Note
Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptures are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.