One Key to Finishing Well!

As Believers, our spiritual impact in our homes, communities, churches, or society at large need NOT be thwarted by difficulties. The Lord Jesus equips His people to overcome challenges and still see the will of God through to His intended goal. Too many of us are quitting on God. Some have quit trusting, quit applying God’s Word, quit reaching out in love, and even quit on their families because of unfavorable developments. Yes, life is unfair, the demands are unreasonable at times, the challenges come unrelentingly, and you hurt in the worst ways possible. Still…still…still you CANNOT give up on those aspects of God’s plan He has committed to your stewardship. God has entrusted you with some significant portion of His greater plan; do not squander His trust by giving in under pressure. The Scriptures teach that you can not only continue in God’s will, but you can finish your race well! Longsuffering, communicated into our experiences by the Spirit, is one key to finishing our course well. Note what the Apostle Paul wrote to encourage you and me.

 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law (Gal 5:22-23).

According to Galatians five, verses twenty-two and twenty-three, the Spirit’s dynamic work in believers also produces six other qualities of the Lord Jesus’ own character. Now that love, joy, and peace have been explored in previous essays, these can also be examined. This second triad of grace, “longsuffering, gentleness, and goodness,” reaches out to others (Anders). These traits are wonderfully relational in scope and significantly improve the quality of believers’ interactions with the people around them. Fortified by love, joy, and peace they enable Christians to overcome tremendous relational obstacles to achieve far greater goals for God’s glory. This means we have the power to go on refusing to quit and believing that completing God's assigned tasks are worth the hazards we may face. A believer’s spiritual impact in their home or society at large need not be thwarted by difficulties; we can still triumph by the power of God working is us. The Spirit equips His people to reach His intended goals, secure His desired ends, continue until the work is done, and persevere until it is finished correctly. As the Apostle Paul stated toward the very end of his earthly journey, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim 4:7). The same can be true of us if we trust God for the power to suffer longer to achieve greater things consistent with His plan for us. "Longsuffering" is one key to finishing our course well.

"LONGSUFFERING" IS A WILLINGNESS TO SUFFER LONGER....

The fruit of the Spirit includes "longsuffering" when the situation or project is not progressing fast enough. Longsuffering is the quality of forbearance under provocation, irritation, aggravation, and frustrating delays (2Cor. 6:6; Col. 1:11; 3:12). Paul’s usage of the term coincides with this definition quite faithfully. It is the ability to endure injuries, distresses, and even agonizing afflictions for extended periods without answering in kind. Longsuffering includes the capacity to tolerate unpleasant or abrasive people, or difficult circumstances for a higher cause.  It is the ability to forgo a reaction that would demonstrate impatience, frustration, and quitting because conditions are less then favorable. How many folks have quit their jobs before they could reposition themselves to secure a better opportunity? How many writers, painters, and professionals gave in under the pressures without realizing their best work? How many pastors walked away from the ministry God had surely given to them because they were tired of starving and barely getting by from week to week? How many missionaries left their field of service because they were not seeing the results they anticipated? And the list could go on and on....

The longsuffering believer understands that life is often inconvenient, taxing, problematic, tiresome, and inopportune. We cherish no such unrealistic or idealistic notions of an uncomplicated and convenient life, job, or ministry.  Our feet are firmly grounded in the cold realities that life can be exceedingly hard and even worse it is often unfair—harshly unfair. Such Christians look at the unreasonableness of their situation squarely without entertaining any thoughts of quitting or retaliating even when wrongfully mistreated (Js. 5:1-13). The thoughts of regret and even retaliation may cross our minds occasionally, but we must not ascribe any credence to them. We refuse to ventilate or give life to these negative emotions. This grace, longsuffering, enables us to be patience in afflictions, annoyances, and even persecutions (Rom. 12:12-21).  If we are ridiculed and misunderstood for Christ’s sake, we simply endure it to sustain a testimony commensurate with professing Christ (1 Peter 3:9-18).

The supreme example of longsuffering is found in none other than Christ Jesus in Luke 23:34, where He prayed from the cross, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”  He chose to be on the cross, but He did not deserve to be there.  Humanly speaking He had every reason to be concerned with His own welfare, but He was not.  If He had protested a little in a passive manner, or sighed by reason of the discomfort and pain, no one would have blamed Him. If Christ murmured under His breath because He felt He deserved better treatment, than everyone present would have understood.  If He was secretly seething within with resentment for His unhappy situation, all but a few would sympathize with Him. But, the fact remains He did not!

Furthermore He had the latitude to command ten thousand angelic warriors to His rescue, but He did not. Christ could have called down fire from heaven to utterly consume His murderers and He would have been justified to do so.  But, the truth is these ‘reasonable options’ never even crossed His holy mind. No, he was willing to endure harsh suffering under cruel provocation for a much higher cause (1 Peter 2:19-25).  The Father’s will was uppermost in His righteous mind, and not saving face. His was not a quest for personal justice, rights, comfort, convenience, or sympathy from His contemporaries. Christ’s longsuffering character enabled Him to successfully complete the most horrifying mission ever. Why did He do it? For sinners who did not deserve it and many will never appreciate it. Is this not the most brilliant instance of longsuffering ever? The Lord Jesus knows how to finish well!

Dr. Tim LaHaye in Spirit Controlled Temperament said, “A longsuffering person is one who can do the menial (LaHaye 1966, p. 50), forgotten and difficult tasks of life without complaining or seething, but graciously, as unto the Lord.” Such believers finish their tasks, projects, ministries, jobs, careers, and assignments well. They do not get mad and quite when suffering affronts. They persist in manifesting the loving Spirit of Christ.

In a day when road rage on the freeway and parent rage at the children’s athletic events is common place, a generous dose of longsuffering can only help.  Numerous marriages end in divorce, and too many young people run away from home because they never grew in this invaluable grace of the Spirit. How many people would have rejected the temptation to escape from their ugly harsh reality through drugs, or alcohol if they possessed this quality of longsuffering? What if they were empowered by the Spirit of the Living God to suffer a little longer trusting God to come through with real answers (Js. 5:4, 7, 8)?  No, life is not a bowl of cherries, but there is help in the Spirit of Christ to cope with it as it is.  However ugly reality is. Christians do not need a quick and easy ‘get away’, we need to entrust our situations to a sovereign God and depend on the Spirit to give us longsuffering grace to suffer longer (1Pet. 4:14, 16, 19). To achieve something far greater than personal comfort, merely obtaining preferences, and securing our guaranteed rights…we must learn to continue. Yes, we will finish well when we do so. As Believers we must be able and willing to endure further extenuation for Christ’s sake. Living in the will of God is not convenient, but it is worth it to advance our Lord's will. We endure to insure that task He assigned us is completed, finished, and finished well. The Spirit will gladly facilitate such endeavors. As a result such Believers will finish their course well.