By Julie Morrill (with inspiration from Dr. John K. Jenkins)
I'm a teacher, but I'm not a great public speaker. That would be my husband Pete. I get nervous in a room more than 30 people in it, because I taught public school and am very comfortable with a particular class size.
But if you know me, you know I have little patience for long, meandering sermons that lack focus or have so many points they become pointless. I've learned a lot about long-suffering in my life, but God is still working on me when it comes to a boring sermon.
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”— Galatians 5:22-23
The King James and New King James Versions use the word long-suffering, while other translations use patience.
One reason you go through long-suffering is because God’s trying to accomplish something in you, but he isn’t finished with you yet.
“…may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.” (emphasis mine)
— 1 Peter 5:10
What is Long-Suffering?
The Greek word for long-suffering, makrothumia, means “enduring hardship, provocation, or delay with a calm and forgiving spirit.” It’s patient endurance, marked by restraint in the face of trials.
Paul emphasizes this in Ephesians 4:1-3:
“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
And again in Colossians 3:12-13:
“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.”
Why Do We Endure Long-Suffering?
One reason is that God is working on us, refining us. As 1 Peter 5:10 says:
“…may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.”
Dr. John K. Jenkins of First Baptist Church of Glenarden humorously asked in a sermon, “How long is a while?” He paused and then answered, “It’s a while.”
Here’s how Dr. Jenkins explained what God achieves through long-suffering:
1. Perfect
God desires to perfect you. If you leave a situation—be it a job or a marriage—too soon, you may miss the lessons He intends for you. Jumping ship prematurely means God will bring another trial your way to teach you patience and perseverance.
Sermon Note: Pete and I both wish more pastors wojld use illustrations in sermons to ensure that people can relate to what is being taught. If you were to use this blog as a sermon outline, this would be a great place to insert a story of your own. Make it humorous or make it a tear-jerker for greater impact.
2. Establish
God wants to establish you. The word “establish” means to confirm your direction in life.
God wants to give you clarity about what you’re supposed to be doing and where you’re supposed to be going.
Of course, this stands out to me, because it’s the heart of True North Quests—to help you find and fulfill your calling in life.
Listen to how Dr. Jenkins makes this point:
“Some of you 50 years old and you don’t know what you’re supposed to be doin’, and that’s because you didn’t stay in the suffering. You kept dodging suffering. You kept quittin’ the deal. You kept ducking out of the relationship. You kept quittin’ the job. You kept doin’ this and you never got established. God wants to bring some direction for your life and…He uses suffering as the tool to help fine-tune where He wants you to go.”
Everyone goes through suffering, and for some of us, it’s going to be long-suffering, and we need to make a choice.
“Are you going to suck it up? Are you going to take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’, or are you going to walk away and blame everybody else?”
3. Strengthen
Strengthening involves aligning your thoughts and emotions with God’s will.
This word “strengthen” means to think right and feel right in your emotions.
Dr. Jenkins uses the following humor in his sermon:
"I am talkin’ to some people now who are crazy. Their thinkin’ ain’t straight…. There are more and more people whose thinkin’ ain’t straight. … There’s one or two people in your row. Look up and down and see if you can figure out who it is. Go ahead, look up and down…. The person who don’t look to the right or the left, but looks straight ahead—that’s the person right there."
When you look back at your life at times when you’ve suffered, see how God brought righteous thinking to your mind and strengthened your emotions.
“When you’re emotionally unstable…you’ll fall for anything. When you’re emotionally unstable, you’ll think that when somebody’s abusing you, you think that it’s right and you deserve to be treated that way. God is trying to get your attention and your emotions right.”
I’m glad Dr. Jenkins mentioned abuse, because I personally escaped from an abusive marriage. I suffered 6 long years in that marriage, and I think I learned what God wanted me to learn from it. God got my attention through that painful marriage and taught me that I don’t deserve to be treated unkindly. He strengthened me emotionally through the suffering in that relationship and through the escape from that relationship. (See how this can be a good place to insert a personal illustration to make your point?)
4. Settle
Finally, through longsuffering God will settle you. The word “settle” means “to make you stable.” You need stability. That’s why some of you are going through suffering, and that’s why it’s taking a long time.
“Nothing can come in my life that God has not already approved.”
Humor Moment:
Dr. Jenkins, at 36 minutes into his sermon, walks around asking people, “How long have I been preaching? What time did I get up here?” People reply that they don’t know, and he says, “Why are people lyin’? I know they know exactly what time I got up here.”
Oh, if only more pastors would engage with their congregations more while they’re teaching and preaching to lighten things up a little….
Dr. Jenkins’ Conclusion
“The Holy Spirit empowers you to suffer long. The Holy Spirit will give you the power. If God has allowed suffering in your life, He’s given you the ability, the power, and the strength to hang in there. If you endure, if you do the right thing, if you learn what he wants you to learn, you will have a season of joy when you come out on the other side. Things will be better on the other side than it was before you went into it.”
“I give God the thanksgiving, glory and praise for whatever you go through, because it made me the man I am today,” says Jenkins.
“When you go through what you go through, God uses it to prepare you for what you go through next.” … You can say, “I done been through worse than this. This is nothing compared to what I been through before. I can take this right here, ‘cause I been down this road before. … You can handle it. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.”
My Takeaway
I’m grateful for pastors like Dr. Jenkins who deliver sermons that are clear, challenging, and generously sprinkled with humor. Thank you, Dr. J, for making the subject of long-suffering easier to digest and full of hope. And I thank you that your sermon wasn’t one I had to patiently endure to gain more of the fruit of long-suffering.
Prayer
Lord, thank You for giving me Your Holy Spirit to empower me to suffer long so You can perfect, establish, strengthen, and stabilize me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
[1] “Topical Bible: Longsuffering,” n.d. https://biblehub.com/topical/l/longsuffering.htm.
[2] Inside FBCG. “‘Long-Suffering’ Pastor John K. Jenkins Sr. (Pass the Fruit - Part 4),” August 27, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg6cmpWWYLE
Comments