Longsuffering

Of all the fruit of The Spirit, this may be the most difficult and perplexing. We in the 21st Century church have very little to do with it. Because of the cultural changes over the past hundred years or so, we have come to expect things to happen quickly. We expect people to respond quickly. When they dont, we get irritable and unstable.

So it was a little surprising to me a few weeks ago, that one of my students would bring it up as something she was struggling with. I wasnt surprised that she might struggle with it. The surprise was that she would even think about it.

What is longsuffering? It's very similar to patience, only with a bit of discomfort involved. It is most applicable to situations we'd like to get out of. At this moment, Beth and I are suffering through a time of trial with her knee surgery. I cant speak from her perspective, but from mine, it's a time of anxiety and anticipation. Anxiety, because I hate when she hurts and wish I could help. Anticipation, because I know that she'll be much better when it's over.

When dealing with people, we may have a particularly slow student, or contrary co-worker, whom we would prefer not to deal with. We may or may not see progress, but we are responsible to deal with the situation in a Christlike way. I imagine Jesus, when James and John said,"Let's call down fire from heaven and grill these dudes!" Longsuffering wasnt on their agenda.

Jesus, on the other hand, exhibited it toward the disciples for three years. He put up with their lack of faith, their shallowness of character, their inability to comprehend his teachings. How difficult must it have been for Him to dispute with the scribes and Pharisees? He knew they were wrong and could easily have taken them completely out of the picture. If He had, though, where would we be?

Longsuffering is to stay under the pressure, knowing that it will not crush us. We bear up, because we know that God's outcome will be better than anything we could do on our own. Sometimes it's for the good of another, but we must bear up for their sake.