I Shall Come Forth As Gold

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22-23

Ephesians 1:13 tells us that we receive the Holy Spirit of God upon salvation. “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise”. At that time, we also receive the entire fruit of the Holy Spirit as listed for us in Galatians 5:22-23.

The first 3 fruits mentioned are love, joy, and peace. These are fruit are a result of our relationship with God. The last 6 focus more on our social relationships. The ripeness or intensity of our cluster of fruit is dependent upon many different factors in our Christian life, and like natural fruit, it takes time to cultivate. Growing our fruit is a necessity in the Christian life. Galatians 5:25 states, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

There is a fruit that many of us want to avoid cultivating: longsuffering.

Longsuffering is sometimes translated as “patience,” but the actual meaning of the word goes far beyond just being patient. Longsuffering involves patiently enduring wrongs or difficulties, enduring mental and/or physical difficulties without complaining or becoming angry.

No one really wants to endure the difficulties of life like losing a loved one, being downsized, experiencing a health scare, being evicted, or not being able to make ends meet. Going through any of these experiences without grumbling seems so wrong, but God has His divine reasons. He uses seasons of longsuffering to build our patience, faith, and trust in Him and to sometimes even reveal Himself to us in miraculous ways.

“But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” – 1 Peter 5:10

It’s important to know that when God allows suffering into our lives, He definitely has a purpose. Biblical figures like  Job, Paul, and Noah endured hardships for years, but there were also women in the Bible from whom we can learn a great deal about longsufffering.

5 LADIES OF LONGSUFFERING

• Hannah – Hannah is our first lady of longsuffering.
  • She faithfully prayed year after year for a child. She did not give up, and eventually, God answered her prayer by giving her a son who would grow up to become the prophet, Samuel, but this did not happen quickly. Hannah had patience, both in waiting on God, but also when mocked by Eli. He thought she was drunk when he saw her lips moving in prayer, but no sound coming forth. His words were so hurtful that Hannah did not eat. Hannah found comfort in pouring out her soul in prayer. She truly demonstrated longsuffering and patience during those long years of waiting on the Lord and developed a deep and abiding FAITH that God could and would answer her prayer.
    • “And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation.” – 1 Samuel 2:1
  • Action: Hannah prayed without ceasing
  • Result: Her longsuffering grew her FAITH.
    • Longsuffering strengthens faith in a similar way to how a muscle grows stronger after exercise and stretching. When God acts, our faith is strengthened.
      • “For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him:” – I Samuel 1:27
      • “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.” – Psalm 27:14

• Ruth is our second lady of longsuffering.
  • Her adult life begins early with tragedy and several misfortunes. As a widow and an outsider in her community, Ruth could have easily abandoned her mother-in-law Naomi and continued her life elsewhere, but Ruth desired to remain with Naomi. While we don’t know all about Naomi and Ruth’s mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship, the Scriptures certainly suggest that during the course of their lives together, Naomi did teach Ruth and Orpah about the God of Israel. Because of that, Ruth chose to TRUST the Lord.
  • “And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:”– Ruth 1:16
  • Action: Chose to follow the God of Israel, Naomi’s God.
  • Result: Her longsuffering grew her trust in the Lord.
    
    • Ruth’s story shows us that God is there for us even during times of longsuffering, and He will take care of us… strengthening us, encouraging us, and reminding us that He has a plan for each of us that He will bring to fruition. Just like Ruth, who trusted God to see her through challenges of poverty, death of loved ones, and social discrimination, we too can get through any struggle for God is faithful to those deliver those who belong to Him.
      • “The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.” – Ruth 2:12

• Bleeding Woman – Our 3rd lady of longsuffering is nameless in Scripture, but she has a powerful testimony.
  • “And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any,” – Luke 8:43
  • This lady had some kind of bleeding issue that kept her in an “unclean” state for 12 long years.
    • “And if a woman have an issue of her blood many days out of the time of her separation, or if it run beyond the time of her separation; all the days of the issue of her uncleanness shall be as the days of her separation: she shall be unclean.” – Leviticus 15:25
    • Whatever the cause of her loss of blood, the Levitical restrictions not only rendered her ritually unclean, but also anyone and anything she might touch. This made her an exile among her own people, and ruined her associations with her husband or ruined her chances of marrying if she was unwed. It would have separated her from her family, friends and neighbors. Additionally, she could not go to the synagogue thereby preventing her from seeking forgiveness for her sins.
    • Imagine the turmoil in her soul. For 12 long years, she couldn’t care for her family… elderly parents, possibly a husband and children. She had no idea how they were doing. Imagine how she existed… from where would her next meal come? Would she ever be well enough to go to temple and ask God to forgive her? What would her eternal state be? Most likely her life was in a constant state of uncertainty.
    • Then she heard about Jesus. Could it be true? She probably worried about that as well, but she chose to believe, and when she touched the hem of his garment, she was miraculously healed of her disease, but even more important was that she received PEACE in her soul.
      • “And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.” – Luke 8:48
    • Action: She stepped out in faith, believing God is in total control
    • Result: Her longsuffering not only brought her healing, but great peace in her soul.
      
      • Many of us have similar experiences as this woman. Some of us suffer from incurable or chronic illnesses or experience difficult spiritual battles. The message from this story of longsuffering tells us that God heals both physically and spiritually, giving what the world cannot give… PEACE.

• Mary and Martha – Our fourth and fifth ladies of longsuffering were beloved friends of Jesus, who often stayed with them in their home in Bethay. Their time of longsuffering began when their brother Lazarus became ill. They sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was on his deathbed, expecting Jesus to come and heal their brother.
  • “Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha…Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.” – John 11:1, 3
• Jesus did not immediately respond to their call for help. The fact that both Mary and Martha were confused and perhaps even angry that Jesus did not come when they needed him did not stop them from believing in who He was. They confessed that they believed Jesus was indeed the “resurrection and the life” when she stated, “…Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.” which enabled Jesus to perform one of his greatest miracles: the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11: 25-27, 38-43). Their longsuffering demonstrated their unwavering HOPE in Jesus.
  • “But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it” – John 11:22
  • Action: Confessed Christ as Lord
  • Result: Because of their faith in Jesus, they had HOPE in their longsuffering.

Even though we know that God has His reasons for allowing suffering in our lives, that doesn’t make it easy to endure. Here are three ways we can endure the tough times in our lives.

3 REMEDIES FOR ENDURING LONGSUFFERING

1. Stay connected to God

During your season of longsuffering, you must guard your faith, and trust that “…weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5) The end of your longsuffering will come. Waiting on the Lord is not a passive activity. Often, we decide that waiting means not doing anything. That is not what God wants us to do. We are to have an active relationship with the Lord.

• PRAY
  • The Bible tell us to pray continually. I Thessalonians 5:17 simply states, “Pray without ceasing.”
  • “Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.” – Micah 7:7

• LISTEN
  • God speaks to us through His Word. Use this time of waiting to “listen” to Him through the Scriptures.
  • Be alert to that “still, small voice” through which He speaks.
    
    • “And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” – 1 Kings 19:11-12
  • Be surrendered to His Spirit and what He desires to show you from His Word.
    • “Submit yourselves (surrender) therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” – James 4:7
    • During times of waiting, it is easy to fall into sin. We start to “listen” to our flesh, which tells us that we must be right in what we want, and since we’re Christians, we must be acting in God’s will. So go for it! This rationalization is grossly inaccurate and can led to a multitude of sins.
      • “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” – Jeremiah 17:9
    • Additionally, during this time of waiting, Satan (the deceiver) knows how to push our buttons. We start “listening” to him instead of God, and we make decisions contrary to the Lord’s will and again, fall into the entrapments of sin. If I don’t listen to God through His Word, I am easy prey for Satan. During times of waiting, our connection with God helps protect us from the dangers of the flesh and Satan.

2. Stay Connected to God’s People

Waiting can be deeply discouraging, and it’s tempting to give up on God, but that is not the Lord’s plan for any of us. The Bible reminds us that God’s ways are not ours, and times of waiting on Him are always part of His perfect will and plan for us.

• “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” – Isaiah 55:9

Waiting on the Lord can actually be a consuming activity that threatens our relationship with God because we begin to focus on ourselves. “I need money to pay my bills!” “I want my child to obey me!” “I need to get well!” “I don’t understand!” Time to FLIP THE SWITCH!

Focus on Others! Stay busy by helping others through their own circumstances. This can bring great joy and satisfaction into your life, especially when waiting for God to act in your own situations.

• “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” -1 Peter 4:10
  • Examples:
    • Anonymously… fast-food drive-in and pay for someone’s order
    • Say “thank you” to a military person or public servant
    • Bake cookies for the local firehouse
    • Take in your neighbor’s trash cans
    • Visit a friend; send cards; make a phone call
  • There are so many ways you can help others in your life, and that will shift the focus from you to them while cultivating the ability to endure through your season of longsuffering.

3. Stay connected to the joys in your life!

Joy is defined as “having a contented heart regardless of circumstances.” Waiting can be hard and  painful and threatens to rob us of our joy. For this reason, begin each day with a few moments remembering the goodness, faithfulness, and love of God and nurture the joy of the Lord. Here’s how you can do this:

• Start your day with God.
  • We have busy lives, but taking time to “hem your day with God makes the day less likely to unravel.”
  • “Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.” – Psalm 143:8
• Start a gratitude journal.
  • When you get up and enjoy that cup of coffee or tea, list 2 or 3 things in your journal for which you are truly grateful.
  • “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:” – Psalm 92:1
  • “Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.” – Psalm 97:12
  • Be specific. Not “Thank you for my family”, but “thank you that my children cleaned up their room last night.”
• Pray with thanksgiving.
  • We often get consumed with asking God for things, that we forget to thank Him for the blessings He has already given.
  • “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” – Philippians 4:6
  • Specificity keeps us focused in prayer time.

Your season of longsuffering is not God’s personal vendetta against you. It is God’s way of building your faith and trust in Him through the peace and hope that only God can give. During this season, you will find God is faithful to His Word. Friends may come and go, but God is that friend who will carry you through your trials when your walk becomes too burdensome to bear. Your job during your season of longsuffering is to guard your faith, focus on your praise, not allow the enemy to stifle your worship, and trust that “weeping endures for a night”, but that your joy and the end of the season of longsuffering will come (Psalms 30:5).

“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” – James 1:2-4

The kintsugi bowl (pictured above) is a broken bowl that has been repaired using the Japanese art of kintsugi, which means “to join with gold”. The art of kintsugi involves gluing broken pieces back together and then adorning the cracks with gold, rather than hiding the damage. The result is a bowl that highlights the imperfections as part of its beauty, and is considered more valuable and beautiful than if it were repaired to look new.

The art of kintsugi can be a metaphor for the work God does in us during times of longsuffering. Often, we feel broken when we are going through tough times, but God is faithful and trustworthy to deliver us. These gold cracks remind me of the work God is doing in me, and when He has brought me through the trial, I am a vessel of honor to the Lord.

• “If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.” – 2 Timothy 2:21
• “But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.” – Isaiah 64:8

Longsuffering is not easy. Struggles will always be part of the Christian journey. Sometimes, we find it difficult to understand why all these challenges happen to us and why the answers do not come sooner instead of later. That is why we must turn to the Bible and seek God’s assurance in times of distress.

“But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” – Job 23:10

**********

When we are tried, our desire should be as that of Job… to come forth as gold!