Our Long-Suffering God

“Teacher, when will this happen?” 

Luke 21:7

Jesus was telling all who would listen to Him about the last days. Then as now, people were very interested in signs of the Messiah’s second coming. “Take care not to be misled. Many will come in My name saying, ‘I am he’ and ‘The time is at hand.’ Do not follow them. Neither must you be perturbed when you hear of wars and  insurrections. These things are bound to happen first, but the end does not follow immediately.”

This says a lot about the patience of God. Wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, great signs and fearful omens in the heavens, plagues, famine, these all call people to examine their lives and call upon the name of the Lord. 

In 2 Peter 3: 8-9, we read, “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

Long-suffering. Patient. This is not the same quality we need when we are caught in traffic or waiting in a doctor’s office. God knows the beginning and the end of everything, even time. He is patient and long-suffering because He has a purpose and a plan. God wants to bring us all under His Kingship. Lord, may we work with You, and may we learn to be patient with those You want to call to Your side.