Long Suffering… [enduring injury, trouble, or provocation long and patiently.]
This quality among others is one of God’s attributes. At Moses’ appointment to collect another copy of the Ten Commandments (remember he broke the first in anger), this was one of the words used to describe Him:
And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin
Sadly this is an attribute that also poses a big challenge for humanity to comprehend. Some use it as test for wrong or right, so if the consequences of their action is not swift – there is no God, or perhaps God is okay with it. Others use it to taunt the believer in times of adversity, saying; Where is your God? If there was a God… And for that believer, like Daniel – How long?
Pharaoh kept on pushing it to his demise, the nation of Israel until they ended-up in captivity, Nineveh and Babylon until their dramatic fall.
Long Suffering is a cross cutting theme in The Rabbi’s teaching, emphasising that delay does not mean absence. But rather it should buy us time to do more good works and to get our lives in order.
So like Penelope in the Odyssey, we are expected to secure His kingdom, keep our focus, passion and discipline; regardless of what the adversary throws at us, or uses to seduce us – until we give up our last breathe.
In your mercy, keep us lord.
~ Sabali
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