The Patience of God

Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?  Romans 2:4

I think sometimes we forget how patient God is with us.  We go about our day-to-day lives and probably don’t realize how often we experience this great gift of His.   Think of all the times we sin against Him and yet do not receive His discipline.  In fact most of the time He withholds his judgment, wrath and discipline from us.  We experience His longsuffering so much that we almost come to expect it.  This can cause us to foster a feeling of resentment when God does decide to discipline us.

 

The reality is -we should be disciplined by God each time we sin against Him.   When we sin we violate the laws of the holy God who requires perfection from His creation.  When we sin we do so against the One who gave His son as a ransom for us.  When we sin we tread upon 

the love of our Savior.  We deserve nothing less than judgment for each sin.

 

Yet God more often than not demonstrates His love, kindness, tolerance and patience towards us as a loving father to his child.    Instead of punishing us for severing our communion with Him, He calls out to us with His Spirit who convicts us of our sin and drives us to repentance.   God desires that we would run to Him each time we sin.    

John Chrysostom offers this reminder, “God shows us his kindness in order to lead us to repentance, not in order that we might sin even more.  If we do not take advantage of this opportunity, the punishment we shall receive will be all the greater.”

Let us not presume on the patience of God,  instead let us rejoice that He extends it to us so often.