Why does God make us wait?
Much of our impatience is about timing. We know what we want, and we want it now. These verses do not explain every delay, but they show that God's timing is not carelessness.
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”
“For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”
“But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”
The prophet Habakkuk had complained that God was slow to act (Habakkuk 1:2). God answered that the vision was “for an appointed time” (Habakkuk 2:3, KJV), and told him: “though it tarry, wait for it” (Habakkuk 2:3, KJV). Ecclesiastes 3 lists the seasons of a life and says God makes everything beautiful in its time (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Romans 8:25 explains why waiting belongs to hope at all: if we already had what we hoped for, we would not need to wait. God's delays are not His absence. Often they are where He does His deepest work in us.
Patience with people
Patience with God's timing is one thing. Patience with a coworker, a teenager or an aging parent is another. The New Testament treats it as part of ordinary love.
“With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;”
“Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;”
“He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.”
Paul's phrase “forbearing one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2, KJV) means putting up with each other's quirks and failings without giving up on the relationship. Colossians 3:12 tells us to put on longsuffering like clothing, together with “bowels of mercies” (Colossians 3:12, KJV), the King James way of saying a tender heart. Clothes are chosen each morning, and so is patience. Even love is described this way: “Charity suffereth long, and is kind” (1 Corinthians 13:4, KJV). And Proverbs 14:29 offers a simple test: the person who is slow to anger shows great understanding.
Patience with people is not the same as tolerating abuse. Bearing with someone's weaknesses is different from staying where you are being harmed. If someone is hurting you, please reach out for help: in the US, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788.
Patience in suffering
The KJV word patience often means endurance: the strength to stay under a heavy load without walking away from God.
“And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope:”
“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”
“Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
“Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.”
“Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;”
Romans 5:3-4 traces a chain: trouble produces patience, patience produces experience (character that has been tested and proved), and experience produces hope. James 1:2-4 says much the same, and where the KJV says patience, the NIV says perseverance. James 5:7-8 uses a farmer as the picture: he cannot make the rain come, but he keeps working and watching until it does. Romans 12:12 sums it up in one line: “Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer” (Romans 12:12, KJV).
What “longsuffering” means in the KJV
Longsuffering is the King James word for patience with people. It translates the Greek makrothumia, which joins the words for long and for temper: a long fuse rather than a short one. Where James 1:3 uses hypomone, endurance under hardship, Galatians 5:22 uses makrothumia, slowness to anger toward people who provoke us. The NIV translates it as forbearance, and most modern translations as patience.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
“And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,”
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
The KJV uses the word longsuffering 17 times, and 10 of them describe God or Christ. That is the heart of it. God proclaimed Himself “merciful and gracious, longsuffering” (Exodus 34:6, KJV), and Peter explains that the Lord's apparent delay is really His patience: He is “longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish” (2 Peter 3:9, KJV). Every bit of patience we show others is a small copy of the patience God has shown us. For the rest of the fruit of the Spirit, see our lesson on the fruit of the Spirit.
| KJV word | Greek word | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patience | hypomone | Endurance: staying under a load without giving up | Romans 5:3-4; James 1:3-4 |
| Longsuffering | makrothumia | A long temper: slow to anger with people | Galatians 5:22; Ephesians 4:2 |
Colossians 1:11 uses both side by side: “unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness” (Colossians 1:11, KJV). The KJV is not perfectly consistent: in James 5:7, “Be patient” translates the verb form of makrothumia.
Frequently asked
What does the Bible say about patience?
The Bible says God is patient first: He is "longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish" (2 Peter 3:9, KJV). He calls us to wait on Him with hope (Psalm 27:14), to bear with one another in love (Ephesians 4:2), and to let trials grow endurance in us (James 1:2-4). Patience is also a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22), grown in us over time rather than produced by willpower.
What does longsuffering mean?
Longsuffering is the King James word for patience with people: being slow to anger and bearing with others for a long time. It translates the Greek makrothumia, literally a long temper. Galatians 5:22 lists it as a fruit of the Spirit, where the NIV says "forbearance" and most modern translations say "patience". The KJV uses the word 17 times, most often to describe God Himself (Exodus 34:6; 2 Peter 3:9).
What does it mean to wait on the Lord?
To wait on the Lord is to keep trusting God while an answer is delayed: praying, hoping, obeying what you already know, and not forcing an outcome on your own. "Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart" (Psalm 27:14, KJV). In Isaiah 40:31 those who wait upon the Lord renew their strength, so waiting is never wasted time.
Why does God make us wait?
The Bible gives several reasons. Some things have an appointed time (Habakkuk 2:3; Ecclesiastes 3:1). Waiting grows endurance, character and hope (Romans 5:3-4). And God's own patience gives people time to turn to Him (2 Peter 3:9). We will not always know the reason for a particular delay, but Scripture promises that "The LORD is good unto them that wait for him" (Lamentations 3:25, KJV).
How can I be more patient with people?
Start by remembering how patient God has been with you (1 Timothy 1:16). Ask the Holy Spirit for longsuffering, since it is His fruit (Galatians 5:22). Slow down before you answer (Proverbs 14:29), assume the best where you honestly can, and forgive quickly (Colossians 3:13). Patience does not mean accepting abuse; if someone is harming you, seek help and safety.
Is patience a fruit of the Spirit?
Yes. Galatians 5:22 lists it fourth: "love, joy, peace, longsuffering" (Galatians 5:22, KJV). Most modern translations say "patience", and the NIV says "forbearance". It is called fruit because the Holy Spirit grows it in a believer over time, as we stay close to Christ (John 15:5).
God waited for you first
Before you ever waited on God, He waited on you. Paul says that Jesus showed him “all longsuffering” (1 Timothy 1:16, KJV), as a pattern for everyone who would believe after him. If you are tired of waiting, or tired of someone who tests your patience, start there.
Then take today's portion: one honest prayer, one gentle answer, one more day of holding on. In Faithero you can highlight a verse like Lamentations 3:26 and add a note about what you are waiting for. Notes sync through your own iCloud, so months from now you can look back and see how God answered.
Waiting on God
In Scripture, waiting on the Lord is not sitting still and hoping for the best. It is active trust: praying, hoping, obeying the light you already have, and refusing to force an outcome on your own.
Psalm 27:14 tells us twice to wait on the LORD, and puts courage in between: waiting takes nerve. Psalm 37:7 adds a practical warning, “fret not thyself” (Psalm 37:7, KJV), especially about people who seem to get ahead by cutting corners. Lamentations 3:26 joins hope and quiet: it is good to “both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD” (Lamentations 3:26, KJV). And Psalm 40:1 is the testimony of someone who waited and was heard.
Where the NIV says “those who hope in the Lord” (Isaiah 40:31, NIV), the King James Version says “they that wait upon the LORD” (Isaiah 40:31, KJV). In the Bible, waiting and hoping are close to the same thing. For more on that promise of renewed strength, see our Bible verses about strength.