Longsuffering: Trusting When the Wait Is Long
June 27, 2026
Longsuffering: Trusting When the Wait Is Long
It is not a word we use much anymore. But longsuffering is one of the most profound and necessary qualities a believer can carry — and it is nothing less than the fruit of the Holy Spirit at work in a surrendered life.
Longsuffering is more than patience. It is the God-given ability to endure hardship, disappointment, and delay without losing faith, without losing hope, and without losing your joy. It is staying tender when the trial is long. It is trusting God’s timing when your own has long expired.
We see it in Job, who held onto God through devastating loss. We see it in Paul, who wrote from prison with a heart full of praise. Paul understood exactly what suffering produces: “tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Romans 5:3-4, NKJV). The trial is never wasted. God is always working.
In Colossians 1:11, Paul prays that believers would be “strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy” (NKJV). Did you catch that? Longsuffering with joy. Not longsuffering with gritted teeth — joy. That is only possible when the Holy Spirit is the source of your strength.
James echoes it beautifully: “count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:2-4, NKJV). God is not just getting you through the trial — He is completing something in you through it.
Friend, hold on. We do not grow weary in doing good, for “in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9, NKJV). The harvest is coming. Don’t let go now.
May God strengthen you with His mighty power today — for all patience and longsuffering with joy. Amen.