Longsuffering in Action

If you could describe God in one sentence, what would you say? This can seem like a daunting task. Where do you start and stop? You might include a little about His power or strength, describe His glory and appearance, or detail His eternal, omnipotent nature. If you wanted to quote a Bible verse that jumps to mind, you might say: “God is love” (I John 4:8).

These are all correct descriptions of God.

But looking at how God describes Himself brings out a quality you may not have considered. In Exodus 34, Moses went up to Mount Sinai for the second time to receive the Ten Commandments. As God descended on the mountain, He described Himself this way: “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…” (vs. 6-7).

Words like mercy and grace being included here are no surprise. But God also uses a curious term in this list of His attributes: longsuffering. The Hebrew word means to be slow to anger. He is described in similar terms in Nehemiah 9:17, Psalm 86:15, Psalm 103:8-9, Psalm 145:8, Joel 2:13, Jonah 4:2 and Nahum 1:3. Numbers 14:18 says plainly, “The Lord is longsuffering…”

But is being slow to anger all there is to being longsuffering? No! According to Outline of Biblical Usage, the term in the Bible conveys patience, endurance, constancy, steadfastness, slowness in avenging wrongs and perseverance.

The other terms used in the passages above, such as God’s mercy, compassion, etc., are all ways He suffers long with individuals and mankind as a whole. These characteristics make up who He is. This is why longsuffering is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). Our ability to bear up during trials comes from God’s Spirit (Eph. 3:16).

The Father and Jesus Christ have shown longsuffering since the beginning of mankind. Imagine creating the first two people, Adam and Eve, only to have them turn from you and follow the devil’s way, setting the course for the rest of humanity to follow. And then for 6,000 years, to have to suffer long with mankind rejecting, disbelieving and in many cases hating you. This is what God has done for millennia.

God is not merely patient. Patience would suggest He is just sitting in heaven waiting for this age to end—proverbially checking His watch. What He is enduring is much different. God is exercising patience under great duress. Hence longsuffering or suffering long.

Jesus suffered greatly in the first century when He came to Earth in human form and died for our sins. This is central to our thinking each time we approach the Passover season. The Father also suffered as His Son was brutally beaten and killed.

Christ and the Father set the greatest examples of longsuffering imaginable. This is why Paul said in I Timothy 1: “Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting” (vs. 16).

God and Christ have set the pattern for us. God says longsuffering is a fruit of His Spirit. So how do we build and exhibit longsuffering in our lives now?

Two Kinds

There are two different types of longsuffering: suffering because of our own problems or failures and suffering because of problems or influences outside of our control.

The second way is how the Father exercises longsuffering. He and Christ are perfect in every way and never suffer long because of mistakes they have made. All of God’s longsuffering comes from external sources, namely mankind living contrary to His Way.

We are fallible and often make trouble for ourselves and may have to suffer long because of those decisions. But much of our longsuffering also comes from things beyond our control.

It could be a health trial—an illness you have contracted that put you in the hospital. Maybe you are having a hard time finding a job in a challenging economy and are struggling to make ends meet. Or perhaps you are forced to suffer long with your co-workers or family members who simply will not change their bad attitudes. These are all circumstances out of our control that require longsuffering.

God suffered long with the overwhelming wickedness of humanity while Noah was preparing the ark (I Pet. 3:20). He eventually flooded the Earth to punish mankind. Afterward, “the Lord said in His heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite anymore everything living, as I have done” (Gen. 8:21).

He enshrined this merciful promise in the rainbow (9:14-17).

This is God’s longsuffering in action. What does it look like in our lives?

The Standard

In Matthew 5, Jesus begins to answer how to exhibit godly longsuffering: “You have heard that it has been said, You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (vs. 43-44).

Humanly, this is a tall order! Yet treating everyone the same is crucial for us to be like God the Father.

Notice verse 45: “That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

God’s sons and daughters must do the same! We must not respect or prefer some people over others (Acts 10:34). Instead, we should be good to all.

Matthew 5:46-47 explains why this is so crucial: “For if you love them which love you, what reward have you? Do not even the publicans the same? And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more than others? Do not even the publicans so?”

How much should we be focusing on treating all people equally—even bearing long with what the Bible calls “evil” individuals?

Verse 48: “Be you therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

We should strive to be perfect in longsuffering, just as God is perfect. How can we ever do this?

The first step is to ask God for more of His Holy Spirit and to help you grow in this characteristic. Also, as with most things, you need to start small.

Learn to Wink at Things

Being slow to anger and abounding in mercy is a must when you are around people who do not hold the same values, morals and beliefs as you. Whether they are co-workers, acquaintances or unconverted family members, sometimes big struggles come from people saying things that are offensive, mean, blunt or even false.

Often, these things are said out of ignorance. If there is no way to help that person see what they are doing, the only option is to exercise longsuffering by simply letting their comments roll off your back.

In Acts 17:29-30, Paul spoke to the Athenians on Mars Hill. In those times, Greece was steeped in idolatry, and Paul was teaching them about the true God that they had never known. The apostle said, “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commands all men everywhere to repent.”

Note this. In trying to turn the Athenians away from worshiping false gods, Paul showed that God is not going to hold their earlier idolatry against them. He explained that one of God’s methods for exercising longsuffering involves “winking at”—the Greek word means “overlooking”—these sins.

Do not misunderstand. Winking at circumstances is different than living with verbal or physical abuse. You do not need to blindly stay in an unhealthy situation, “overlooking” the problem. Yet you should ask God to help you overlook comments or other habits that could irritate or offend you. The more you can build a thick skin and accept that the other person may not change, the easier it will be to move forward in life and exercise longsuffering.

Paul left us this fascinating record for those who want to exercise the same kind of longsuffering as God! Ask Him to help you wink at the ignorance of others and overlook people’s flaws wherever possible in your life.

Become Empathetic

Merriam-Webster defines empathy as “the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another.” In simpler terms, it is the ability to truly see another person’s perspective.

Proverbs 21:2 reminds us that people tend to view their own thoughts and opinions favorably, even when they are mistaken: “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes.”

You must learn to keep this in mind and remember where people who do not know God’s Way are coming from. They are not in the same place as you spiritually, mentally or emotionally.

Empathy requires us to “walk a mile in someone else’s shoes,” to paraphrase the famous saying. If a person says something that may be offensive or hurtful, consider what they are going through in their lives that may have caused them to lash out.

The truth could be any number of things: Maybe they were just fired from their job and are unable to pay their bills. Maybe a close relative or friend recently died, and they are struggling with the loss. Perhaps they were treated badly by someone else, heightening their emotions. Or they could simply be having a bad day.

Whatever the cause of the hurtful comments toward you, give people the benefit of the doubt. Doing so will also help you more easily wink at others’ faults.

Jesus taught the concept of empathy when confronting the woman caught in adultery in John 8. When the scribes and Pharisees brought her to Jesus, they wanted to test Him and see if His judgment would align with theirs. Instead of playing into their hand, He began writing on the ground—presumably enumerating the sins of this woman’s accusers. By doing this, He caused each of the scribes and Pharisees to put themselves in this woman’s shoes and see that they, too, were no less guilty of sin than the woman caught in adultery.

Part of empathy is not only remembering that others are not perfect, but that you are not perfect either. This simple fact will help us develop longsuffering.

Be Quick to Forgive

Little annoyances or offenses can pile up. As they do, a sense of bitterness can grow toward the other person, which God warns against: “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled” (Heb. 12:15).

People become bitter toward others because they do not practice forgiveness. If we are not forgiving others, we will not be forgiven by God ourselves (Matt. 6:14-15). God hates hypocrisy and does not want us to seek forgiveness from Him when we are unwilling to forgive other people.

Learning to quickly forgive as God does (Psa. 86:5) goes a long way in developing longsuffering toward others. Our Father is the epitome of forgiveness. Just as we want to be forgiven for our sins, we ought to be ready and quick to forgive others.

One effective way to more easily forgive is to remember that you are working with a potential God-being. Whether the person is part of God’s Church presently or not, developing this mindset toward others is essential. Remember that God’s Plan is all-encompassing, involving people from all time—including those He has not yet called. God “is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (II Pet. 3:9).

How sad that many churches in the world believe if you do not repent in this life, you are doomed to go to hell for eternity. God’s Plan is not so! While people may be the cause of your longsuffering and trials at times now, never forget that they may one day work alongside you in the Family of God.

Longsuffering in the Final Era

This last point is most important. Ask yourself: How often do I take time to consider the kind of longsuffering that saints from past eras had to endure?

This simple exercise may be the most powerful way to continue to suffer long. It helps put our trials and difficulties into perspective and realize the struggles we are facing could be much, much worse.

Saints of old fled from violent persecutors, hid in caves and hoped to find food day after day. They lived their lives knowing they would likely be killed for the truth. Hebrews 11:33-40 plainly describes the kinds of struggles our brethren from eras past had to endure. They were “tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yes, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented…”

What we endure today with longsuffering is almost incomparable. In contrast, longsuffering for us is often simply waiting for salvation. This relatively light burden we must bear in the final era is manageable.

Consider how Paul told the Romans that giving our lives as “living sacrifices” to God is our “reasonable service” (12:1). If it was “reasonable” for saints in past eras to die horrible deaths for the Work, how much more reasonable are our sacrifices? The longsuffering we must endure is not unreasonable!

Take time to truly consider what others in God’s Way have gone through to fulfill their calling. Be thankful we are not persecuted as our brethren in other eras were. If we couple this final point with learning to wink at things, developing empathy and truly forgiving others, we will build this critical character trait of God.