10 Bible Verses About Patience with Explanations
“Patience is a virtue.” As a Christian, you may hear this a lot, but what does it mean? When your spouse is late from picking you up at work, or when your child takes a long time to get ready for school, shouldn’t you get mad? When things don’t go your way, don’t you think becoming angry is a natural thing to do?
When we find ourselves becoming enraged, we may say and do things we don’t mean. When the thing we want most don’t come, we become spiteful, and frustrated, and can even say bad things about God and our fellow man. As Christians, however, we need to stop and observe our emotions. The Bible teaches us a lot about what it means to be patient, what it means to wait, what it means to hope, to endure, and how to trust that things will be okay, because God is fighting for us, and He knows what He is doing.
If you start doubting yourself, your fellow man, and God, and your patience is hanging by a thread, now is the time to pick up the Bible and learn about what God has to say about patience. Here are 10 Bible verses about patience with explanations, to help you understand what it means to be a patient Christian:
1. Psalm 27:14
“Wait for the Lord; Be Strong; Let Your Heart Take Courage; Wait for the Lord!”
Waiting is uncomfortable. No one likes to wait. But when you’re not getting what you want, you can feel a range of emotions such as anger, sadness, or frustration. God is telling you to be patient, show courage, and be strong in your time of waiting. Wait for what the Lord has in store for you because He knows what your heart needs and deserves.
2. Galatians 6:9
“Let us not become weary in doing good deeds, for the proper time, we will receive the harvest if we do not give up.”
There are times in your life when you’re doing everything right but everything wrong is happening to you. This may be in the field of your career, in helping others in the community, or in your business. You seem to do everything right, avoid mistakes, avoid doing bad deeds, and live your life on a straight path. But how come you’re not being rewarded? How come you’re stuck in a job and someone else got the promotion? Why isn’t anyone grateful for the things you do, and why isn’t your business succeeding?
The Bible tells you not to give up, and continue to do what you’re doing. The rewards for all of the good things you do will come soon, in its proper time. In the meantime, keep on doing what you do, continue to do good deeds, and soon, you will reap the rewards of your actions.
3. Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you, plans that will prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
God has plans for you, so if you’re being rejected from a job, from a promotion, or by the object of your affection, don’t be scared. God may only be redirecting you from something that was not meant for you. If you didn’t get the job you want, it might not have matched what God has planned for you. So don’t be scared that you’ll never get a job because you will, and when you do, it will be a part of God’s plan, which will be so much better than what you planned for yourself.
4. Proverbs 16:32
“A patient person is better than a warrior, one with self-control, than one who takes over a city.”
Machismo is well-regarded in this world. The braver and more aggressive a person is, the more he is praised and hailed in this society. But with aggression comes scheming and manipulation. God is telling Christians that being a person with self-control is better than being a person who uses aggression to get what he wants.
5. Samuel 5:4-5
“David was 30 years of age when he became king, and he reigned for 40 years. In Hebron, David reigned for 7 years and 6 months, and in Israel, 33 years.”
People have different timelines. If you compare yourself to others, such as a friend who already has a house and kids, while you’re still stuck in an entry-level job, you will feel sad and depressed. You find yourself at 25 years old with no direction in life, or you’re 40 but you’re still not married. Or maybe it was always your dream to open a business but you’re now 35 and you’re nowhere near your goals. God reminds you with this Bible verse that David was already 30 when he became king. And when he did become king, he was the greatest leader they had ever seen. Trust in the timeline of your life, and not what society expects.
6. Psalm 5:3
“In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you, and wait expectantly.”
One of the qualities of being patient is being ready to receive. You may want something in your life, like a new car, a new job, or a new relationship. You may have been waiting for years, but nothing has happened. The Lord is telling you that you need to go to Him, tell Him about your heart’s desires, and wait for them to arrive. You may not get exactly what you want, but something will arrive, that is an assurance. So tell God about what you want, and expect it to arrive.
7. James 1:19-20
“Know this, my brothers: Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak and to anger; for the anger of man does not produce righteousness.”
When you are faced with arguments, conflicts, and fights, your emotions can get the best of you. When your rage is fuming, you can say things you don’t mean, and do things you never meant to do. So before you begin to fuel your anger, take a step back and observe your emotions. A Christian is not someone quick to anger, but someone who listens, analyzes information, and honors God by controlling his anger.
8. Ecclesiastes 7:9
“Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the laps of fools.”
In connection with feelings of anger, God says that anger is for fools. Anger is not a Christian virtue unless it is used to fight for the oppressed. According to the Bible, a Christian who is quick to anger through provocation is a fool, and Christians are not fools of emotions.
9. Ephesians 4:2
“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing one another with love.”
There may be times in your life when your fellow man will make you angry, will annoy you, and you lose patience with this person and treat them badly. Well, the Bible tells you to be humble and gentle. Your fellow man is your brother, and though he may have done things to provoke you, you must approach him with an attitude that comes from a place of love.
10. James 5:7-8
“Be patient, my dear brothers, until the Lord’s coming, see how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it until it receives the rains. And so, you also need to be patient. Establish your hearts, for the Lord’s coming is at hand.”
Are you in a situation where you’ve been unlucky for years? Maybe you lost your job, or you lost a loved one? Or you’ve been financially struggling for decades? This Bible passage is telling you to be patient with the Lord because the fruits of the earth are there for you, you just need to endure the rain that comes into your life. After this rain, you will soon harvest the fruit of your hard work. But, it is also telling you to establish your heart to the Lord, because He will come, and you just need to be patient that yes, He is indeed coming into your life very soon.
The Bible is filled with passages that help you understand what it means to be a Christian who is patient in all aspects of his life. Yes, we are humans and we become angry, resentful, and disappointed, and we tend to lose our faith when one unfortunate thing happens to our lives after another. But just like this last verse, God is telling us to endure the rain, because, like a farmer who patiently waits for the fruit to bear, our heart’s desires will soon be fulfilled, we just need to trust and have faith in God’s plans for us.