There are many Bible verses about God’s promises. Many of these promises required folks to have patience. Whether from the Old Testament or New Testament these Bible stories required people to wait on the Lord. Noah built the ark patiently waiting for God to bring the rain. Job waited patiently for God to come and explain why he was suffering. Abraham and his wife Sarah waited patiently for God’s promise of a child that would create a nation. These six important stories of the Bible about patience teach us that we must wait for our heavenly father because it is the testing of our faith.
Everyone had to wait on God’s timing from Noah to Jesus Christ to the Holy Spirit. Waiting on God’s timing is not easy. However, it was one of the things I had to learn as a new Christian. I did not have great patience because I hated waiting for anything. For me, a long time was 5 minutes after I decided that I should have to wait. If my appointment was at 10 a.m. the latest I was willing to wait was 10:05 a.m.
After this time I could almost feel my blood pressure begin to rise. Patience was the fruit of the spirit that I would have to work on with the help of the Holy Spirit. This is my test turned into a testimony. However, the Word of God is filled with examples of patience. Let’s unpack these six important stories of the Bible about patience.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, Galatians 5:22
Stories Of Patience
We will showcase the stories of the bible about patience. I will start with Noah, Job, Abraham and Sarah, David, the Apostle Paul, and finally Jesus in the Holy Bible. However, many others waited on the good things that were part of God’s plan. At the same time, as they waited many experienced hard times and difficult situations. Some labored with hard work, others experienced great loss in the name of the Lord. However, these Bible characters provide the most important thing about patience and that is trust in the Lord. You will learn that patience comes with trusting God and having faith that He will do what He promised.
Noah Patiently Built An Ark
Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. He was a righteous man, who was blameless because he walked with God. However, the world was violent, and the Lord regretted that He had made man. God gave Noah instructions to build an ark because God was going to bring the rain to destroy the world. Noah patiently built the ark and gathered his family and two of each kind of animal because he trusted God. Noah was 600 years old when the flood came and God shut him in the ark.
It rained for 40 days; however, the water covered the land for 150 days. So, for about 200 days, Noah, his family, and the animals waited patiently for the Lord to release them from the ark. Knowing that God was destroying the entire world except them must have been terrifying. They had to patiently trust that God would keep His promise to spare them.
These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. Genesis 6:9 ESV
And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. Genesis 6:6 ESV
For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” Genesis 7:4 ESV
He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. Genesis 7:23
The Patience of Job
It is one thing to lose one family member but Job lost all his family except his wife. Job also lost all of his wealth. Job’s patience is a perfect example of patience while waiting on the Lord for answers. Job wanted to plead his case to God and get answers for his afflictions. His loss was great but his patient endurance in his pain I will never understand. He refused to curse God but blessed God. He waited patiently to speak with God not knowing if God would ever present himself.
Even his closest friends believed that he must have sinned and that God was punishing him without proof. However, Job knew that God was his redeemer and would wait on the Lord to restore him. This takes great faith in God and His promise never to forsake us.
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. Job 1:1 ESV
And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord .” Job 1:21 ESV
“As for me, I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause, Job 5:8 ESV
“The heavens will reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him. The possessions of his house will be carried away, dragged off in the day of God’s wrath. This is the wicked man’s portion from God, the heritage decreed for him by God.” Job 20:27-29 ESV
For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. Job 19:25
Abraham and His Wife Sarah
God promised Abraham and Sarah a child. A child that would make Abraham the father of a multitude of nations. Abraham would reach the age of 100 before he saw the birth of Isaac. However, Abraham and his wife Sarah were not always patient and believed they were too old to bear a child. Hence, they took matters into their own hands because they lost faith. Sarah decided to give her maid Hagar to her husband Abraham. However, this was not God’s plan. There are life lessons when we choose to follow our way instead of God’s. In this case, Sarah came to resent Hagar and the child she bore with her husband.
In conclusion, Ismael Hagar’s son would not be one to be the birth of great nations. God said no to this plan. It was to be Issac who Sarah would one day give birth to. God’s covenant was with Abraham and Sarah, not Abraham and Hagar. We cannot change God’s plans. We must trust Him.
“Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. Genesis 17:4 ESV
Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” Genesis 17:17 ESV
So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. Genesis 16:3 ESV
God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. Genesis 17:19 ESV
David Patience On The Run
David was anointed king but would be on the run for his life while waiting on God’s perfect timing. God’s timing would take 22 years. Samuel told David he would be King, however, Saul was already King. David could not physically remove God’s anointed. He would have to wait for God to remove Saul. However, this did not stop Saul from wanting to remove David. Saul hunted David to kill him. During this time David prayed to God to protect him from his enemies.
Meanwhile, David had to forgo any opportunity that presented itself to protect himself by killing Saul. He had to patiently rely on God to protect him until God made him king. It is one thing to wait quietly, it is another thing to be on the run for your life while you wait. David never felt safe to lay his head down. He never had a safe place to call home. David was constantly on the move and patiently trusting God to provide for him and his men.
He chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds; Psalm 78:70 ESV
Saul was even more afraid of David. So Saul was David’s enemy continually. 1 Samuel 18:29
Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise up against me; Psalm 59:1 ESV
Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord! I have fled to you for refuge. Psalm 143:9 ESV
And David said, “As the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish. 1 Samuel 26:10 ESV
Apostle Paul Patiently Planting Churches
The Apostle Paul like a farmer waits for his season, Paul had to wait for God’s timing to go to various places to preach the good news. Paul is another example of the power of patience. He tried many times to go to Jerusalem and Rome but was warned by the Holy Spirit not to go. Eventually, Paul made his way to Jerusalem and was arrested. He would ultimately be sent to Rome and die. The Holy Spirit time and time again prevented Paul from going to Jerusalem and other places.
The Holy Spirit directed Paul to plant as many churches as possible before he died in places based on the will of God. Paul was patiently obedient to the spirit and allowed himself to be redirected to these locations. Paul planted churches in Galatia, Phillippi, Thessalonica, Corinth, and Ephesus. Even though Paul had the desire to go to Jerusalem and Rome he obeyed the will of God.
“For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.” Romans 1:9-10 ESV
And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. Acts 16:7 ESV
Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” Acts 19:21 ESV
And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. Acts 21:4 ESV
Jesus And God’s Timing
The son of God had to wait for his time. Our Lord Jesus Christ always had a good attitude about God’s timing. He always followed the will of the Father and at the proper time. Jesus waited 30 years to start His ministry. The Christ Jesus was very concerned with God’s timing. He patiently waited for God to give Him the approval to move forward. Jesus strictly followed God’s plan and always deferred to the will of the Father.
Everything He did was for the glory of God. We are called to be holy like God. We should always strive to fulfill the will of God in our lives. Therefore, we should consistently consider the will of the Father in our lives just like Jesus did. We will not always be perfect but it is in our imperfection that God does His best work. When we trust our Lord and Saviour the virtue of patience becomes easier each day.
Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. John 7:6 ESV
You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” John 7:8 ESV
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. John 4:34 ESV
When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, John 17:1 ESV
since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:16 ESV
Recap of these Six Important Stories Of The Bible About Patience
Patience is one of the fruits of the spirit. I have learned to deal with my impatience in this fast-paced world. This is the best thing the Lord has taught me using the Bible as object lessons to guide me. The Holy Ghost has been there to guide me and a Bible Study or two on patience has transformed my life.
I have learned that the great power of prayer helps a lot. I now know I must pray my way through slow-moving customer lines and when I have to wait before I am seen at the dentist/doctor’s office. In my daily walk with Jesus, I strive to seek Him when I become impatient and become filled with anxiety, I know that there are examples in the Bible to help me.
Job is one of my favorite books because of the redemptive power of this story. However, Job’s patience gives me a good reason to trust God. To have patience amid trials of many kinds. I know that God is with me and I can trust and depend on him to see me through. The stories of the Bible about patience are some of the greatest scriptural examples of patience you will find. Patience has always been the test of my faith.
However, I must keep in mind that Joseph waited 13 years to be rescued, Abraham waited 25 years for a child, Moses was 80 years old when God called him to rescue his people, David waited 22 years to become king of Israel, and Jesus waited 30 years before He began His ministry. It took 50 days before the Holy Spirit came to the Apostles.
Luckily, the patience of God with mankind is boundless. God is faithful and trustworthy. Let us be Holy because God is Holy.
Steps To Grow Your Patience
- Meditate on the Word of God
- Follow the examples of patience in the Bible
- Take Bible lessons on patience
- Pray
- Seek the Holy Spirit for help
- Share with other Christians
- Surrender to God