The Patience of God

"Love is patient ..." 1 Corinthians 13:4

In Genesis 18, The Lord was speaking to Abraham and told him that when He returned the following year Abraham's wife, Sarah, would have given birth to a son. The scriptures record that Sarah, who was listening to the conversation, laughed in disbelief at hearing she would have a child. Sarah was past the age of childbearing. When God asked why Sarah laughed, she responded with, "I did not laugh (Genesis 18:15).” After the Lord left Abraham and was headed to Sodom, He let Abraham in on His plans to destroy the city due to its wicked behavior. Abraham, who was determined to intercede on behalf of the people of Sodom, negotiated with God no less than six times in an effort to persuade the Lord to spare the city from destruction. In Abraham's final plea he said, "Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there (Genesis 18:32)." The time had come when God heard the cries of the Israelites who were enslaved in Egypt. God decided to send Moses as His representative to Pharaoh in order to free His people. Moses asked God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 3:11)?" Moses continued to hesitate in responding to God's direction; claiming the Jews would not believe God sent him and that he was slow of speech and tongue. This culminated in Moses pleading to God, "Oh, my Lord, please send someone else (Exodus 4:13).” Just after God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, the Bible records that the Israelites were afraid of God because of the thunder, lightning, trumpet sound and smoking mountain they witnessed. Therefore, the people told Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die (Exodus 20:19).” What do you see here? You have Sarah who, first of all, didn't believe in God when He said she would give birth to a son. Then she compounded her unbelief by lying to God that she didn't laugh. We all know that God would eventually destroy the city of Sodom, killing everyone aside from four people; Lot, his wife and two daughters. It is safe to say that God knew only four people would survive the destruction, yet He allowed Abraham to attempt to intercede for the city. God allowed Moses to try and get out of the plans God had for him. With each objection, God tried to reassure Moses with a miraculous sign. He even summoned Aaron to go along with Moses to give him some comfort. The Jews basically told God to shut up and stop talking to them because they were so afraid of Him and lived to tell about it. Moses would go on to continually be the mediator between them and God.

When you read all these interactions between the Lord and His people, what you see is God's patience on display. In His love for Abraham, Sarah, Moses and the people of Israel, God showed great restraint in not lashing out at any of them despite their unbelief and outright rejection of Him. Many people, Christian's included, have a difficult time reconciling the God of the Old Covenant with the God of the New Covenant despite the fact that they are the same God. They struggle with how a God of love could do things like destroying the entire city of Sodom. Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." This is often times viewed only in terms of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross; that this act of love is the only definition of love. Therefore, how can God be the same yesterday and today and forever, when He is unleashing His wrath in various ways in the Old Testament? However, the Bible describes many facets of love. In 1 Corinthians 13, we see that the love of God is kind, does not envy or boast, is not arrogant or rude, does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful, it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth, it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, never ends, and, first and foremost, it is patient. After all, the greatest display of God's wrath, the global flood in the days of Noah (Genesis 6), came after God waited 120 years while Noah built the Ark. As 1 Peter 3:20 says, "God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water." God waited over an entire century for the people in the days of Noah to repent of their wickedness and they did not. This is God showing His love for the world by being patient. Even today, as Christians eagerly await the return of Jesus, the delayed return of Christ is more evidence of the love of God expressing itself through patience. 2 Peter 3:9 says, "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." The ultimate goal of God is for all to come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. The fact that Jesus has not yet returned is God showing His love through patience in hopes that His delay means salvation for the lost. God patiently endured Sarah's unbelief, Abraham's intercession, the doubt of Moses and the rebellion of the Jews because of His love for them. He now patiently waits for the lost of the world to come to faith in His Son, Jesus. This time He has patiently waited for much longer than the 120 years during the time of Noah. Genesis 7:16 reads, "And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in." God, not Noah, shut the door of the Ark when the flood waters came. Jesus is our Ark and the door to salvation goes only through Him. One day soon, whether through death or the final judgment, God will shut the door again. What side of the door will you be on? He is patiently waiting for your decision.