Patience — Is that Possible?

December, 2002

by: John Richard

Patience is often like money, for many people want it, but never get it. It is very often the request that people seek prayer for. We are apt to lose our patience in the smallest daily events, such as being next to a bad driver on the road, having our children disobey or having a trial arise. There are numerous people and events that can be the reasons we stop being longsuffering. But is it possible to have patience? God does call us to be patient (Ps. 37:7; 1 Cor. 13:4; Col. 3:12), so He believes that we can be patient. You might protest that you have a unique situation or are in a very difficult one, which gives you an excuse to be impatient. You might assert that you just can't endure it any longer, since you have been patient for a number of years and have never seen any good fruit come of it. I want you to know that patience can be very difficult at times to exercise, but I believe it is possible for you to be patient.

Patience is possible, because God supplies us with all the necessary resources to carry out our responsibilities (2 Cor. 12:9-10; 2 Peter 1:3). Furthermore, there are examples in the Bible of those who exercised patience. For example, God is extremely patient with His rebellious creatures (2 Peter 3:9). Now you might say that God is able to be patient, because He is God. However, there is an example in the Bible of a sinful man, who was able to be patient. In fact, he had received a promise from God and waited 100 years and yet never received the promise. His name was Abraham and he had such faith in God that he patiently endured for 100 years. In this article, you will observe his patience and the reason he was able to be patient.

Abraham was called by God to leave his homeland to go to a land that God would give him (Gen. 12:1-3). Abraham obeyed the Lord, packing his bags to go live in a land that he was going to receive as an inheritance (Heb. 11:8). However, he never owned the land other than a burial plot he bought for his wife (Gen. 23:1-20). He didn't even take up permanent residence there, living as an alien (Heb. 11:9) in the land of Canaan. So how did he react to this? Did he get upset at God or impatient?

The Bible records that he neither got upset nor grew impatient that he lived as an alien and didn't actually own the land that was rightfully his inheritance. He could have showed his impatience by giving up and leaving the land, but he didn't do that. He patiently endured for 100 years. Imagine being patient for 100 years. We barely can be patient for a day, let alone a year, or a decade or 10 decades. So how in the world was he patient for 100 years? How did he accomplish this task?

The reason that he was able to be patient was that he had the proper focus. The author of Hebrews states that he was looking for a heavenly city (11:10, 16). He was focused on a heavenly city, whose Architect and Builder was God (11:10). He focused on the heavenly Jerusalem, which is the final home of God's people. He was focused on an eternal goal, on a city, which was utterly unshakable. He didn't set his affections on the Promise Land, but on his eternal home. He was focused on heaven, which enabled him to endure the trials and aspects of everyday life.

Abraham endured because he focused on God and his eternal home. Do you focus on heaven, the eternal destination for believers? You need to focus on heaven. Have you ever tried watching your feet while you were running a race? What would happen to you? You would run into things. So it is with our lives. If you keep your eyes on yourselves and temporary trials of life, you will run into spiritual stumbling blocks. However, if you keep your eyes fixed on Christ, you will be able to see how close you are to the finish line, enabling you to patiently endure in this life. Focus on the future, so you can patiently endure the present. Patience is possible.