2 Peter 1:5-7 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
Patience is one of those attributes that you cannot learn by reading about it. It's a quality that can only be acquired by persistent, enduring, practice– and for me, it's a drill that I go over, and over, and over again!
The original Webster's dictionary offers this definition of patience: "the suffering of afflictions, pain, toil, calamity, provocation or other evil, with a calm, unruffled temper; endurance without murmuring or fretfulness, from a kind of heroic pride, or from a Christian submission to the divine will."
Reading this definition two things really struck me – first, "endurance without murmuring". I, for instance, get so frustrated sitting in a traffic jam... counting the wasted minutes when I could have been doing something useful! Yet, what an opportunity for me to choose to quench the inner fumes – and use the delay to work on my patience!
The second thing that really hit me was, "a Christian submission to the divine will." How many times are we placed in a difficult position, or forced to deal with an "impossible" situation? Or perhaps, an "impossible" person? These circumstances are always opportunities to grow in patience – or to learn to submit to God's providential will, and often, to minister in some special or unique way.
Is your patience being tested today? Great! Remember, love is (first of all) patient. [1 Cor. 13:4] The Lord is training you toward godliness –- and godliness is moving toward perfect love. With so much work to be done, He is really wanting to work this quality into your character now -– to perfect your love, and with it to transform the world around you for His glory!
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy Devotions. This devotional was originally published on Worthy Devotions and was reproduced with permission.
How to display the above article within the Worthy Suite WordPress Plugin.
[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]When Joseph became ruler over Egypt, his name was changed, and his identity was altered so that he no longer appeared or lived as a shepherd son of Israel from the land of Canaan, but as an Egyptian Prime Minister. The transformation was so thorough that when his ten brothers arrived in Egypt he was totally unrecognizable to them. This true story beautifully illustrates Mashiach ben Yosef (Yeshua/Jesus at His first coming), and contains a prophetic picture pointing to Yeshua and His Jewish people living today as we approach the Second Coming.
Joseph, the son of Jacob grew up caring for flocks, a shepherd boy,(Genesis 37:2). While we might have a romantic view of an easy pastoral life among sheep and goats, the main responsibility of a shepherd was to protect the flock against hungry predators (wolves, lions, etc.) looking for an easy meal, actually quite a dangerous job. The shepherd loved his sheep; and Joseph was a good shepherd.
The creation of the world was completed by God in 6 days. He rested on the 7th day and sanctified it, the Sabbath, Shabbat. When Yeshua died for the sins of the world, his followers hurried to take Him down from the cross so they would not violate the commanded time to rest. [Luke 23:54-56] So the Messiah completed His work of redemption just before entering into Shabbat. As He died, He said, “It is finished!” [John 19:30] Finishing His work and entering the grave opened the way for humanity to enter His rest, the rest He entered after creating the world.
Does it ever happen to you – that something terribly simplistic just suddenly becomes clear? I realized something about us the other day. We, humans, are such addictive creatures.
This verse in Nehemiah connects the observance of a Holy day with the joy of the Lord. Our identity as “saints” (literally, “holy ones”), called to be holy, means we are and ought to be set apart from the world. But does that mean a solemn and joyless life of boredom as some have been led to believe? I have heard statements like, “I’m miserable, but at least I’m holy!” No, to be simultaneously holy and miserable is “oxymoronic” (if I may coin an adjective). It contradicts the very Spirit of God!
In 70 AD Jerusalem finally fell to the mighty Roman army led by Titus after a long siege. To commemorate the Roman victory over the Jewish rebellion, an arch was erected in Rome known to this day as the Arch of Titus. This famous arch depicts the fall of the Temple and its artifacts paraded in a processional described by the historian Josephus’ in his account, “The Jewish War.”
Genesis 24 recounts the marriage of Issac and Rebekah. As the offering of Isaac by his father Abraham was a clear picture or type of our Heavenly Father’s offering of His Son Yeshua, we may also view this marriage as a picture or type of Yeshua’s marriage to his Bride.