Patience [Day 4]
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in mercy.
Psalm 103:8 NKJV
God and his servant Job are good examples of patience. God is the epitome of patience because regardless of our shortcomings, He continues to show us grace and mercy each and every day. Without his mercy and patience, we would have all been gone by now. One may ask, why is God so patient with us when He could just punish us for our wrongdoings? The answer is very simple.
First off, God doesn’t show us patience, but rather, He is patience. Secondly, God isn’t someone who just punishes. The LORD’s patience is what brings us salvation, and without it, we would be finished. Additionally, God’s patience towards us shows how much he cherishes and cares for us.
Job is an example of a patient man. Job was the LORD’s servant who was blameless and upright in God’s sight. At one point in his life, Job had everything he could ever want and more and he was blessed by the LORD. He had a wife, seven sons, three daughters, plenty animals, a prosperous land to dwell on and much more. Satan had an encounter with God about his tour on Earth. God asked him to consider Job, his upright servant who God finds no fault with.
Satan goes on to contend with God that the only reason why Job is such an upright man is that “God has blessed him and has never let any harm come to Job”. God himself knew the sincerity of Job’s faith because he saw the depths of Job’s heart. God decided to test Job’s faith. Job lost all of his children and his fortune within a day.
He was then covered in painful sores, and his wife offered him no support. She told him to give up, curse God, and die. When Job’s three friends came to console him, they could not even recognize him from a distance. Adding to Job’s pain, his friends falsely accused him of living a life of sin and blamed his burdens on his unrepentant heart. Through it all, Job patiently endured and he was blessed with double of almost everything he originally had.
The reason for Job’s story is that even in the midst of suffering, we should, nevertheless, show patience. Additionally, the reason for adding God’s patience is to show that we should be patient with our brothers and sisters because there is someone higher who has shown us patience.
Write It: How can we show patience in our long-suffering?