Abraham had been promised that he would be the father of a great nation (Genesis 12:2). Yet several decades passed and no child arrived. Not just a few years - several decades! His wife had already passed the time of childbearing, so it was then humanly impossible to have a child. Surely they had been patient after waiting for so long - had they not? Yet most of us are familiar with the experience which occurred in Genesis chapter 16. Violating a principle of God’s law (“Thou shalt not commit adultery”) produced a child who eventually was to trigger turmoil in the household and needed to be sent far away (Genesis 16:2-4, 10-12; 21:9-12). This was all due to a lack of patience.

What would we do under similar circumstances? In our current spiritual state, might we easily have fallen into the same trap after waiting for so many decades? Beware of improvising any method of achieving a goal, when it goes contrary to God’s express commands. That may seem like an obvious statement to the Christian, but even Abraham, the father of the faithful, forgot about it, evidently during a weak moment. We may think we have waited long enough for something, but in many cases that is really not for us to decide. Beware!

Jacob was “a plain man, dwelling in tents” (Genesis 25:27). Surely he and his mother, Rebekah, appeared to be patient people, waiting for the birthright to be bestowed upon him as promised. Before the birth of her twins, Rebekah was given a message from God: “The elder shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23). From childhood Jacob, the younger twin, was much more devoted to religious matters, the one who yearned for that spiritual blessing.

In contrast, Esau, the firstborn “had no love for devotion, no inclination to a religious life. The requirements that accompanied the spiritual birthright were an unwelcome and even hateful restraint to him. The law of God, which was the condition of the divine covenant with Abraham, was regarded by Esau as a yoke of bondage. Bent on self-indulgence, he desired nothing so much as liberty to do as he pleased. To him power and riches, feasting and reveling, were happiness. He gloried in the unrestrained freedom of his wild, roving life.”1

So, the attitude of God-fearing Jacob was a refreshing opposite. Yet, surprisingly, after many years of waiting, it was Jacob and his mother that became the impulsive ones. They rushed to seize that birthright by fraud and deception. The history of the incident recorded in Genesis chapter 27 is well familiar.

“God had declared that Jacob should receive the birthright, and His word would have been fulfilled in His own time had they waited in faith for Him to work for them. But like many who now profess to be children of God, they were unwilling to leave the matter in His hands. Rebekah bitterly repented the wrong counsel she had given her son; it was the means of separating him from her, and she never saw his face again. From the hour when he received the birthright, Jacob was weighed down with self-condemnation. He had sinned against his father, his brother, his own soul, and against God. In one short hour he had made work for a lifelong repentance. This scene was vivid before him in afteryears, when the wicked course of his sons oppressed his soul.”2

Such bitter regrets! Regrets that had to be borne by a man whose life had always been quiet and religious! After all, it was the impulsive twin Esau who in his youth had sold the birthright for a mess of pottage to satisfy his appetite - not Jacob. Surely, one would think, Jacob was the patient brother. But the stolen birthright reveals that - in his heart’s inmost recesses - Jacob was not really as patient as he should have been. Nor was his mother who wanted the best for him.

What would we do under similar circumstances? After so many, many years of waiting, and Isaac seemingly on his deathbed, might we have rushed into taking matters into our own hands? Amazingly, Isaac did not end up dying until many years later. There was actually plenty of time in which he could have come around to recognizing that Jacob should receive the birthright. Yet Jacob and his mother miscalculated God’s timing through their lack of patience. They could not read the future, for no mere mortal can. That is understandable. But right at the crucial moment of temptation, after waiting what they felt was long enough, they failed to ask God first. Disaster.

The question of patience flows naturally into the subject of guidance. How often do we ask God to guide us, yet, like Pilate in the judgment hall, are too impatient to receive the answer? The Bible has plenty of promises assuring us that God will guide the life of those who seek Him. Yet too often we fail to obtain that guidance in its fullness because we are too impatient to receive the answer. We rely on chance methods or rush through our prayers and rush through our life without pausing sufficiently to think through everything. (Remember, surprisingly, it was religious Jacob - not impulsive Esau - who impatiently stole that birthright. Yes, Esau had once bartered it away as a rash youth, but Jacob stooped to fraud to obtain it at a more mature age, when he was already a seasoned Christian young man.)

We are told to “let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (James 1:4). Patience is essential in perfecting Christian character. Jesus says, “In your patience possess ye your souls” (Luke 21:19). In what context does our Lord give this important injunction? The verses leading up to it all speak of persecution from rulers and betrayal by family members - the type of thing that tends to be extremely perplexing to a person.

In preparing this article, the thought came to design it for our periodical for the young, the Youth Messenger. Surely the youth all need patience - we all know that. . . . But they’re not the only ones! Abraham revealed a lack of patience while in his mid-80’s at the birth of Ishmael (Genesis 16). The aged Moses lost his patience in the desert of Zin just before the Israelites were to enter the Promised Land (Numbers 20:8-11). Doesn’t even greater patience need to be exercised after many long years than after just a few short minutes or months? Sometimes the greatest test of a lifetime comes only after many decades. Patience is just as much needed by those who can already handle “strong meat,” those with years in the three angels’ messages. Perhaps we have not truly mastered patience yet - otherwise we would all be perfect, and Jesus would have been able to come already.

We often think of patience as merely a passive virtue of pacific people. Yet, interestingly enough, patience is a very active quality as well. Why? It is noteworthy that the word “patience” is usually coupled with “exercise,” as in “exercising patience.” For the young, exercise comes more naturally. With brand new muscles, they begin wiggling at birth and continue from there. As time rolls on, however, exercise tends to take a little more effort. Experience brings patience (Romans 5:4), but the “exercise” of patience takes a bit more effort, just as the exercise of the muscles. This explains why sick or elderly people too often become disgruntled and ornery. They are understandably frustrated by their sudden or gradual inability to do some of what they used to be able to do. But is frustration an excuse for impatience? We do not condone it in the young, so how much less should we tolerate it in ourselves when our character maturity should already be ripening for the harvest? Jesus is coming again soon, and now is no time to be impatient - even in well-intentioned zeal.

1. Successful family life - and even in understanding difficult, challenging doctrines, such as no remarriage after divorce.

“[Jesus said:] Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it” (Matthew 19:9-12).

A person who truly loves his or her spouse with Christlike love will believe in God’s power to work in that person’s behalf - manifested by willingness to wait for that person to repent of wrong as long as he or she lives, just like Christ does for the human soul. Where there’s life, there’s hope. Don’t rule out the possibility of repentance as long as the breath of life remains. The life that God has given is a very powerful, meaningful thing. Jacob snatched the birthright because he thought Isaac was about to die. But Isaac did not die until a long, long time afterwards. And don’t jump prematurely the way Abraham did. God specializes in the impossible. “Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son” (Genesis 18:14). (And don’t laugh, like Sarah did.)

2. Striving to be sealed with the 144,000.

“Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12, emphasis added).

3. Successful missionary effort in a hostile world.

“Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain” (Matthew 5:39-41). “The people must be given the truth, straightforward, positive truth. But this truth is to be presented in the spirit of Christ. We are to be as sheep in the midst of wolves. Those who will not, for Christ’s sake, observe the cautions He has given, who will not exercise patience and self-control, will lose precious opportunities of working for the Master.”3

“We must imitate the long-suffering of God toward us. The Lord requires of us the same treatment toward His followers that we receive of Him. We are to exercise patience, to be kind, even though they do not meet our expectations in every particular. The Lord expects us to be pitiful and loving, to have sympathetic hearts. The fruits of the grace of God will be shown in our deportment to one another. . . . Christ did not say, You may tolerate your neighbor, but, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself’ (Matthew 19:19). This means a great deal more than professing Christians carry out in their daily life.”4

The apostle Paul reveals to us the secret of his successful walk with Christ: “I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31).

“Patience under trials will keep us from saying and doing those things which will injure our own souls and injure those with whom we associate. Let your trials be what they will, nothing can seriously injure you if you exercise patience, if you are calm and unexcited when in trying positions. . . .

“There is a moral grandeur in being patient under trials and provocations. ‘He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city’ (Proverbs 16:32). It requires discipline and firmness of purpose not to give expression to passion but at all times to take care that words shall escape the lips that will dishonor the Christian character. Self-control will be a valuable acquisition to the graces of the Spirit, and parents should teach their children, by precept and example, this precious lesson of patience and self-control.

“Patience implies that we have difficulties to encounter, annoyances to meet. . . .

“We can see the wisdom of Peter in placing temperance to be added to knowledge before patience. This is one strong reason for overcoming the appetite for all stimulants, for as the nerves become excited under the influence of these irritating substances, how many and grievous are the evils that are done! But the healthful use of the unstimulating articles of food will not excite the nerves by irritating the stomach and debilitating brain nerve power. There is necessity for the Christian adding patience to temperance. . . . There must be a rising above the customs of the world in order to bear reproach, disappointment, losses, and crosses, without one murmur, but with uncomplaining dignity.

“It is easier to act the part of a martyr than to be patient under provocation and to control a bad temper. Sound religious principles must be brought into the life to repress anger rather than inflame it by giving vent to it. We feel very angry, but if we control that anger and are not betrayed into expressions of hasty feeling, we will not lose the respect of our brethren or respect for ourselves. The Pattern, Christ Jesus, is our example. Patience is a heavenly attribute, and Christians must cultivate it.”5

“Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hathlong patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door” (James 5:7-9, emphasis added).