What comes into your mind when you here about the patience of God or that God is patient? In this post, my aim is to help you see the glory of God as displayed in His patience. It is not my goal to give you mere information about what patience means but rather, it is my intention to help you behold our patient God.
Our God is the God of patience
now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus. -Romans 15:5 NKJV
Our God is the God of patience. It means that from His being flows patience. It is not from something external to Him just like any of His attributes or excellencies. Now, God is patient not because He is soft. His patience is never an indication of His softness or His tolerance of sin and the sinner. God is kind. He is truly good but He is not soft. God accepts a sinner by His grace but He never tolerates their sins.
God is longsuffering
God is patient towards the sinners not because He has no other choice on how to deal with them but because He is rich in mercy.
The LORD is longsuggering and abundant in mercy... Numbers 14:18 NKJV
The Psalmist proclaimed:
But You, o LORD, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.
Psalms 86:15 NKJV
God is so patient with you and me
Like the Israelites of old whom God delivered from the bond of slavery and from Egypt itself, we tend to forget God and what He has done for us. Instead of pursuing Him being motivated by His unfailing love and unceasing faithfulness, we oftentimes choose to run away and drink the bitter waters of the world. Here's God's cry as spoken by the Prophet Jeremiah:
5 Thus says the Lord: “What injustice have your fathers found in Me, That they have gone far from Me, Have followed idols, And have become idolaters? 6 Neither did they say, ‘Where is the Lord, Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, Who led us through the wilderness, Through a land of deserts and pits, Through a land of drought and the shadow of death, Through a land that no one crossed And where no one dwelt?’ 7 I brought you into a bountiful country, To eat its fruit and its goodness. But when you entered, you defiled My land And made My heritage an abomination. 8 The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ And those who handle the law did not know Me; The rulers also transgressed against Me; The prophets prophesied by Baal, And walked after things that do not profit. -Jeremiah 2:5-8 NKJV
Imagine God, the One who created all things and have put us therein to enjoy His blessings, the One who gave us life, saying, "What injustice have your fathers found in Me, That they have gone far from Me?". Imagine that He who is most worthy of all honor and praise, who deserves all our attention, who is supposed to be our heart's treasure, to whom all our affections must go, was dethroned from our hearts for the sake of following dumb and unprofitable idols. Imagine Him who offers us life yet we neglect Him for things that are infinitely so much lesser than Him. Oh, how small-minded are we that we have exchanged the glory of the Creator for the passing glory of the creature. We feed our heart and mind with worthless things and utterly turned our back from the Lord's table on which we could have a feast in His presence. Oh, how small minded are we!
But here's what is wonderful as I read through Jeremiah's book: that inspite of what His people like us did, the heart of God towards His people is this:
But you have played the harlot with many lovers; Yet return to Me,” says the Lord. -Jeremiah 3:1 NKJV
The One against whom we have sinned greatly is also the One calling us to Himself. Again, it is not because He tolerates our sinfulness but because He is patient and rich in mercy. It is out of pure love. The LORD Himself declares:
The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: 'Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.' -Jeremiah 31:3 NKJV
God's Glorious Purpose in Being Patient
Now you might think that God is unrighteous or unjust because He didn't punish the sins of His people in the past. He forgave Abraham when he lied, He restored David when he committed the grave sin of murder and adultery. As a just Judge, God should have punished their sins since Christ hadn't yet died on the cross. Now to be enlightened with this issue let us consult what the Word of God says:
25 whom (refering to Christ) God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, -Romans 3:25 NKJV
In the exercise of the divinde patience or forbearance, God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, that is, the sins of His people who lived prior to Christ's coming. The passing over of sins was not because God is a terrible judge who could not justly punish sins when He should have. Rather, it has a glorious purpose. The purpose is:
to demonstrate His righteousness
Having passed over the sins of the past, God would appear as unrighteous, not exercising His justice. But God in His sovereignty, chose to exercise His patience towards His people because in His mind, His Son would pay the price for our sins.
At the cross, Christ became the propitiation for our sins and the sins that were previously committed. It means that Christ became the very one on which our sins and the sins in the past were laid.
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. -Isaiah 53:10 NKJV
Whose iniquity? Ours, including God's people who lived in the past. On whom were our iniquity laid? Upon Christ! So at the cross Jesus Christ was condemned. He became sin (2 Cor. 5:21), He became cursed and a curse (Gal. 3:13). He was the sacrifice to the Father who satisfied His justice and appeased His wrath. Every sin that were passed over in the past were endured by God for a very long time so that one day all of it would be laid upon His Son. What a love! What a grace!
Thus, God in His forbearance is not unrighteous or unjust because He justly punished our sins upon the bidy of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Go back to the cross
If you ever feel that you are far from God, know that He is so patient with you. If you think that you're too sinful to come to Him, know that He has rich mercy, abounding grace, and everlasting love for you. All that you need is at the cross. Jesus paid for all of it - completely, perfectly, lovingly, willingly. Remember that the Lord's heart for you is "Return to Me". Now run to your Savior who loved you and gave Himself for you.
-jep
