Remember that good feeling that you got when you finally found the words to affirm your impatience with that person who was prone to upsetting you? Well, it did not come from the Lord. In fact, Jesus operates in a realm where such weakness is soon expected to be seen in your rear vision mirror. Instead, it is the attribute known as “longsuffering” that our Lord wants to fill you with.”
To be longsuffering is to be “long-tempered,” or as a wise man put it, “It is to have self-restraint when one is stirred to anger.”
When frustrations abound, passions begin to run high. Under such conditions the person building up to a fit of rage does not appreciate being told that their problem is “a shortage of self-restraint.” But if it is, it is!
We cannot allow each other to be wired to attack every time we see something we think to be unhelpful or wrong. Let’s face it, if Jesus meted out instantaneous punishment every time he saw something he thought to be unhelpful or wrong in us, we would not last long.
The Lord is longsuffering toward men for the sake of their souls. He is giving everyone time to repent:
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient [longsuffering] with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9NIV).
Paul, making it personal, knew that God had put off His wrath toward him and brought him to his senses. Thus, Paul held up his experience as the divine pattern for all sinners to follow unto salvation.
“But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience [longsuffering] as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:16).
John Staiger
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