Long-suffering

By T. M. Moore

…to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life…
- Romans 2:7

It’s a good idea to know what you might be in for when you start getting serious about increasing in Christian virtue.

Take the virtue of patience – or, long-suffering.

I have not been praying particularly to increase in patience of late, but I do seek the Lord regularly to help me grow in the virtues of Christ. He seems to be focusing on long-suffering these days.

And, frankly, I’m ready to move on to the next topic.

Let’s talk about computers. How could it be, I ask myself, that a brand new computer, right out of the box, never used, could come fully loaded with 73 viruses, malware invaders, worms, and assorted cyber ne’er-do-wells? Toshiba did not have an answer for me on that, but they promised to be available if my new computer crashes again.

Which it did recently, after only a couple of uses. So I get the tech help from India on the line and, for four hours, he works to fix and restore my computer. Even he is amazed at the problems which had struck my brand new computer.

Four hours of sitting at my desk, watching this whiz guy from India move with skill and alacrity through my computer, fixing, restarting, downloading, and repairing a mess I didn’t bargain for, but which the Lord figured I needed anyway.

Manford George Gutzke used to say that in order to learn long-suffering you have to first be long-bothered. I think I can say that this seems to be true.

Item: Today, fixing my lunch, I began to haul a bottle of Virgil’s Root Beer out of the fridge. In too big a hurry, I dropped the bottle, which shattered into lots of shards and fragments and spilled my root beer all over the floor. And under the refrigerator.

My first response was, well, not admirable. But I confessed it, and then I started to feel this kind of “Oh well, God knows what He’s doing” attitude slip over me as I began the task of cleaning up my mess.

After lunch – my grilled cheese sandwich nearly burned on the stove while I was busy wiping up the floor – I had to move out the fridge and clean under and behind it. All taking more precious time on a day when (a) I didn’t have that much time to spare (computer problem) and (b) I wasn’t feeling all that well anyway.

But I was able to rejoice and finish my clean-up before getting back to my work with a real sense of peace and satisfaction that I hadn’t allowed my computer or my clumsiness to rob me of the Lord’s joy.

The Lord has a sense of humor. He wants me to be patient and to wait patiently for all the unfolding of His good and perfect will in my life. And while I’m waiting patiently, He wants me to rejoice. So He sends these little drills and exercises from time to time, just to strengthen my long-suffering muscle and remind me that He is Lord and, waiting on Him, I will never lack for anything I need.

Are you praying for more Christlikeness, more virtue? That’s good. But don’t be surprised if, in His divine sovereignty, wisdom, and good humor, God doesn’t jerk you around a bit to get you where He wants you to be.

Rejoice and give thanks in the midst, and grow in the virtues of the Lord.