There are many aspects of the nature of God which I am thankful for. God is longsuffering and for that I am eternally grateful. If it was not for the longsuffering nature of God I would be in bad shape. If God gave me what I deserve when I deserved it, I would not be able to write this article today.
If God was not longsuffering, you and I would be without hope. Why? Because we have sinned (Romans 3:23) and sin requires a payment, the payment is death (Romans 6:23). The longsuffering nature of God gives us time, though not unlimited, time to make our lives right with Him.
We can see the longsuffering nature of God in both the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament God was patient with the Israelites who time after time rejected His commands and guidance (Numbers 13-14). In the New Testament we see God’s longsuffering as well. Consider what Peter wrote in 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” The Lord of the heavens and earth desires you and I reach salvation! He is patient with us, even though we don't deserve it and often times don’t appreciate it. What a blessing it is to serve a God who looks at our rebellions, our mistakes, and our trials, and through them all desires to give us as much time as possible to reach salvation.
Just a side note, if God is longsuffering with us, shouldn’t we offer the same amount of grace with others? Often times it is difficult to be longsuffering when people do or say hurtful things against us. When we compare the longsuffering nature of God to the things we do, it ought to cause us to be more patient with people.
Make no mistake, God’s patience will not endure forever, He tells us so. There is a time coming when He will judge the world (Acts 17:30-31). However, what a blessing it is to know God is longsuffering with us when we fall short of His will for our lives!
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