Patience, the long time opponent of every Believer ever. It’s that one Fruit of the Spirit we overlook or conveniently forget when we are begging God to make us like Him. And sometimes, patience is the one thing we beg God for when we’re trying to prove that we’re holy. Of course there are genuine people, but I’m talking about the majority who’s got a motive behind asking or not asking for patience. But, what if I told you that you’ve been asking for the wrong thing?
Job
Let’s start with Job, because, you can’t talk about patience without talking about Job. He’s the man of the hour! Everyone always talks about ‘the patience of Job’. Which is very true, even James 5:11 tells us that Job was patient (via KJV). But have you ever heard about Job’s endurance? Do you even know when Job became patient?
Patience is a Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). And via Merriam Webster’s Dictionary, patience, or being patient is bearing pain and trials calmly and without complaint… did you get that last piece? Calmly, or without complaint. So, I know you’re scratching your head because all Job did was complain, didn’t he?
You’re absolutely right, Job really did complain. So how can patience be bearing pain and trials calmly and without complaint? Simple, Job didn’t have patience until God began to question him.
Then Job replied to the Lord, I am nothing-how could I ever find the answers? I will cover my mouth with my hand. I have said to much already. I have nothing more to say.
Job 40:3-5 NLT
Right here is where Job began to show patience. He’d been complaining the whole time, but as soon as God finally answered his complaints, he fell silent. He stopped complaining about his situation. We know that he became patient because two chapters later (Job 42:5-6), Job tells God that he will sit in dust and ashes to show his repentance. He was repenting from saying to much, and was finally ready to sit in ashes to show God his true repentance. And his true repentance was none other than stopping his complaining and speaking unjustly about God, and waiting for God to move.
So… I’ve Been Complaining…
Having healthy conversations with God is what He wants. Telling Him that you don’t like the situation you’re in isn’t going to make God angry. In fact, He wants you to tell Him how you really feel. Being honest with God opens the door of communication with Him. But let me clarify something: telling God how something makes you feel is totally different from complaining.
If we look at some examples of complaining in the Bible, we see Job, of course, and we see the Children of Israel complaining about having better living conditions and wanting to return to Egypt… to slavery (Ex 16:3). Being mindful of how we address God, and what we say to Him plays a part in conversing and complaining. Take Habakkuk, the prophet. He definitely complained. But God’s response to Habakkuk’s complaint and Job’s complaint was different. Why? Because Habakkuk complained that there was injustice, he didn’t complain that God was unjust, the way Job did (Job 9:22-24).
Ok, ok, let’s get back to the real meat here. We’re still trying to figure out why we don’t have patience when we’ve been asking for it, and we need to figure out why we keep going through these bad things with the same end result. I’ll tell you; it’s because we don’t really understand the book of Job. We think Job’s complaining was his patience, but that’s totally not it. Job’s complaining, was his endurance.
Endurance
No. I’m just answering your question right now, no. Ha! Let me explain. Patience and endurance are NOT the same thing.
Endurance: the ability to withstand hardship or adversity, especially : the ability to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity
Merriam Webster Dictionary
The ability to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity-sounds kind of like Job, doesn’t it? What we often aren’t taught is that Job endured. He didn’t patiently wait this thing out. He complained! He argued with his friends. He was rebuked by Elihu and God! But through all of that, Job endured the hardship and he learned patience. He learned to bear trials calmly and without complaint.
So, I’ll tell you a secret: the reason you haven’t gotten the Fruit of patience, and you’re still having these rough times, is because you’ve asked for the wrong thing. You asked for patience but you keep complaining. You won’t just go through the valley in silence, or march around your Jericho in silence. You won’t stop having a fit and complaining about how unfair God is. You won’t be calm or without complaint. What you really want is endurance. You want that first step, because ultimately, as we saw with Job, endurance brings patience.
Hebrew and Greek
Ok, let’s just be certain about things as I wrap this up. We know the Bible was first written in Hebrew and Greek. So, we know that the words ‘patient’ and ‘endure’ are obviously there in the scriptures. But are they the same word? No! I’ll give you a super short Hebrew and Greek lesson just to keep you on your toes.
In the Old Testament (written in Hebrew) we see the word ‘patient’ used mostly to describe the waiting of something, or someone (Jesus). The word ‘endure’ was used to describe perseverance, pushing through until the end. And it was often associated with God’s love and mercy, meaning that through all of the trials and failures, God’s love endures, or sustains. Same goes for the New Testament (written in Greek).
For your own sake, I’ll leave you with one scripture that will help you remember to ask for endurance when you don’t think you’ll be able to stop complaining:
And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
Hebrews 6:15 KJV
