Be Patient With All
“And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.”
Being patient is something easier said than done. This is a remarkable characteristic. Some possess it in a great degree, exhibiting incredible longsuffering. Others find themselves stretched to the limit or to breaking point. Others have a short leash and explode almost immediately. The fact that the Bible urges us to be patient implies that it is necessary for all of us to exhibit patience. The word patience is often translated as endurance or steadfastness. Contentment and self-denial bring about endurance or steadfastness.
Endurance means a number of things: to overcome suffering, to remain the same under suffering, to move beyond suffering. “Be patient in tribulation,” (Rom. 12:12) means to be steadfast under the trials of life. Patience in one sense is also the ability to endure. We speak of patient endurance. It may be suffering or pain that we must endure. Patience is about the behavior we exhibit when confronted with either pain or suffering. Endurance is more about the long-term. The similarity is very close.
The Latin verb “pati” means to suffer; so our English derivative “patience” means to put up with suffering. Of course, you might bear your trial or whatever it is grudgingly. That would mean that you are not patient. Patience is about composure. It is about composure in the midst of all the changes in life. It anticipates that whatever I am bearing will turn out well. It is this hope that causes us to endure or bear with our difficulties. When the Bible speaks of patience, it is referring to something that is spiritual. Patience is about spiritual strength. In the spiritual sense, it is not about something natural. People who are patient about many things by nature may very well be impatient spiritually. This can be deduced from the fact that the Apostle urges the Thessalonians to be patient people.
Patience comes about by trusting God and we do not do that easily or by nature. It takes training. Suffering or affliction may be the camp you must live in to learn patience. Giving up your own desires or serving someone else may be the camp in which you must learn patience. Whatever or wherever it is, it is something learned. We must learn to trust God in order that we might give up ourselves. We will trust God to help us undertake what he requires. We will also trust God to help us endure and be steadfast in our service or duty. Paul tells us in Galatians 5 that one of the fruits of the Spirit is patience. It is, therefore, a matter of degree ranging from immaturity to maturity in Christ.
A new Christian has no idea (relatively speaking) of all the various trials that may come his way. He will be exposed to them. Some will be fierce; others will be mild. But he will soon learn that they come in a variety of guises. Spiritual maturity will enable him to decipher what lies behind the form or external appearance. The Psalmist reminds us that through God we will do valiantly (Ps. 60:12).
The unbeliever is utterly unable to be patient in this spiritual sense. He may bear his trials manfully and with courage, but he has no idea about seeking God’s will for his life or bringing God glory through his trials. He does not seek help from God. He may steel himself in his suffering but not with patience.
The Christian views patience as an ornament to his life. Be patient with all, Paul exhorts. We know ourselves to be reconciled to God and we believe that all of our afflictions ultimately come from God, in order to be a blessing and a benefit to us. It is quite remarkable that in the Bible, patience is often linked to faith (Titus 2:2; 2 Tim. 3:10; 2 Thess. 1:4). This proves that patience is truly something spiritual. An impatient person does not have control of his heart. Faith in the Lord Jesus is a strengthening additive in controlling the heart.
Patience is not for some things, but for all things. We will all experience to some degree or another some suffering or tribulation. Some will be lighter than others. They will all be a grief to us. They will assault faith. They will seek to cause you to take your eyes off God and place them on your problems or yourself.
Self-denial does not mean a lighter load. Picking up your cross and following Jesus means taking the load of the cross upon yourself. Patience promises to ease the burden over time. Impatience will add to the weight of the burden. If men assault us for the sake of Christ, patience will seek to prevent vengeance. If someone provokes us, patience will turn wrath aside. It is this that causes Paul to speak of rejoicing in our sufferings (Rom. 5:3).
Now I have used both words (endurance and steadfastness) to describe patience. They are connected together, but being patient with everyone is not about being steadfast with everyone. It is about bearing with them. Longsuffering might be a better way of expressing it (lit. to be of a long spirit). To suffer long means that we endure and bear the pain or loss. The pain or loss here is that which affects us, meaning our time, our money, our homes, and our energy.
The cause of patience is not to be found in ourselves. You can clench your teeth, try and control yourself, keep quiet, suppress all emotions, but you will find that patience will elude you. It is not your work. You do not have the power either to bring it about. All you have is natural strength depending on a person’s constitutional makeup–but this is not patience. The Lord must work it in us. He is called the God of patience (Rom. 15:5). God manifests patience perfectly. It is God who sustains us. It is God who afflicts us. It is God who comforts us. Why does God do these things? He does them because he is always bringing us to conformity to our Lord Jesus Christ. The result will be obedience and submission. Yielding to God’s will requires patience. God does not reveal everything to us at one time. To possess the soul in patience is to look beyond the present moment, beyond the present trial to that which is above. It is connected to faith. It sees that which is unseen.
We will easily recognize that we lack the patience that we ought to have. We will still find impatience lurking. When God hides himself or rebukes us, we might turn peevish. We become like Jonah (Jon. 4:8). Impatience is a breeding ground for other sins. It makes us unfit for godly service. We become unwilling to yield to God. It makes us restless. We want results immediately.
Spiritual maturity requires patience. It does not happen overnight. It will require some fights along the way. It always requires time. It always requires affliction or suffering. There has to be pain. When you combine these together (time and suffering), you get change. Patience is a learning process because it is a spiritual work done in us by God.
To become patient or more patient requires having the desire for it. In order to be like Christ, it is necessary to be patient. Afflictions are light and for a short time compared to eternity. Endurance is like good medicine. It humbles us to wait. Patience is like a sweet perfume. Everyone else becomes aware of it for it is seen in action. Without patience, there can be no Christ-likeness, no holiness, and no reward. Patience makes the load light. We can carry the cross. It is the Lord who will direct our hearts into the love of God and the patient waiting for our Lord Jesus (2 Thess. 3:5).