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I think we have a common misconception of the word patience. We often confuse this with a feeling of 'calmness' even as our world is falling apart around us. But it doesn't mean that at all. This word typlifies a very real struggle going on inside our soul at any given time. Have you ever prayed for patience? I hear requests like these in church. I'm sure you have too. And the next week the person (usually a young mother with a two year old) comes back, desperate for us to pray for her some more. She doesn't think God has answered her prayer, but He has. This is because the word 'patience' in the Greek is made up of two compound words meaning 'under suffering'. The Bible lists the fruit (note: not fruits) of the Spirit at Galatians 5:22 : love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. The New Kings James version lists 'patience' as 'long-suffering', and that is an appropriate visual of what patience is. This is because of how this word is put together. When a Greek word is made up of two compounds and the first word is a preposition, such as under, it is done in order to greatly emphasize and punch up the meaning of the second word, in this case 'suffering'. Today's teenagers would understand 'under suffering' as meaning 'extreme suffering' and that is exactly what it means to be patient, it means to be undergoing some extreme suffering. When we are 'under' (or experiencing extreme) suffering, what or whom are we under? For still remaining with the idea of using the preposition is the actual meaning of the preposition under. The answer is being under God. In America we have the phrase under God in our Pledge of Alligence: One nation under God .... I'm trying not to get off track, so back to the subject at hand. The difference between Biblical patience and worldly patience is that the first is done suffering under the love of God, and the second is done without any thought of God at all. It must be a lonely place to suffer without being aware of the love of God. The Christian cries out to God when under suffering. But who does the atheist call out to? So pray for peace if you've decided to pray for patience, better yet pray for all the fruit of the Spirit. For He hears us when we cry out to Him. And if you are an atheist reading this, there is no need to suffer alone. Believe in Jesus who died for all your sins, and rose again bodily from the grave on the third day. After all, He's our example of true patience. Look what He suffered for us... |