Longsuffering

Many of us have heard the “fruits of the Spirit” listed off: Love, joy, peace, patience… but did you know that patience is also interpreted as “long suffering”? The original Greek word used in the New Testament is “Makrothumia” and both “patience” and “longsuffering” are listed in the definition of Makrothumia. So It makes sense that both words have been used.

If you think about it, isn’t longsuffering the definition of patience?! Who of us enjoys waiting? Patience indicates that we have grace and character while we wait for something that we want now. Waiting can be longsuffering. Especially if it is something that feels dire to us that we feel we’re in need of now. Longsuffering includes endurance, constancy, steadfastness and perseverance in our time of waiting.

Just because we’ve been suffering a long time doesn’t mean we have the fruit of “Longsuffering.” You might be stuck in a marriage that isn’t changing. Maybe you’re suffering while you wait to find a spouse and start a family. Some of you may be suffering as you watch your prodigal sons and daughters walk away from the Lord, others are suffering from financial distress. Maybe, like me, you are suffering in your physical body as you wait for God’s healing. As I think about what the fruit of “longsuffering” is, the Lord reminds me of a real-life event I witnessed a few years ago that I believe captures it.

We have a huge tree in our backyard whose roots go deep, and whose branches soar high above our rooftop. It gives us some good shade in the summertime. One year, an owl had made itself comfortable on one of the branches, high up in this tree. It was a brown, speckled owl and it camouflaged among the branches well. But we had spotted it and it was a beautiful large bird! It often perched itself in one of the branches and held its head high.

One day I heard a horrible sound of a tribe of birds gawking above our heads. They weren’t tweeting, or chirping. They certainly weren’t singing. But they sounded like they were yelling at one another, all at the same time! The sound was so loud it immediately drew our attention to the tree above us. We looked up and I was surprised as I watched these regular size birds come fly towards the perched owl in our tree. They were in attack mode.

One would fly by and hit the owl with their beaks. Then another bird would come from another branch and hit the owl from another direction. I realized the birds weren’t yelling at each other, but they were yelling at the owl, yelling about the owl, and making a ruckus as they plotted how to remove the owl from my tree. There was a large crowd of birds against one owl. They worked together, one after the next they took turns hitting into this owl or flying so close to it. This is called “mobbing” and it’s where we get that term from.

I waited for the owl to pull his wing up and hit one of the birds as they came at him. But he didnt. I expected him to dart his beak at them and try to peck at them in retaliation. He did not. He sat upright, silent, calm, and steadfast. He wasn’t moving. He wasn’t going to let them succeed. The entire attempt at “mobbing” in nature is for the smaller birds to get the larger, threatening bird, to leave. They worked tirelessly to get this owl to relocate. They did not succeed. He did not relocate. He didn’t change branches. I didn’t see the owl move his head. I didn’t even see the owl flinch.

He held on strong and quietly endured. He was determined. It didn’t matter if it hurt, if they way outnumbered him, or if the attacks went on for longer than anticipated. He was there to stay. Finally, after about an hour, the smaller birds gave up their attempts and the owl triumphed. I no longer heard a sound or saw a bird flying within sight. But there sat the owl, strong, magnificent, unmoved. I think that’s what longsuffering is. After all the hardship we remain unmoved, unmoved in our faith, in our love, in our hope, in our determination, in our endurance. I want that. I want to be like that owl. I have suffered a long time, but I want to have the fruit of longsuffering in my character.

Ephesians 4:1-2 “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 longsuffering, bearing with one another in love…”

Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”