We should all be glad that God is good, but what is it about God that is good?  There are probably too many things to cover in a blog like this, but we have been looking at a few of them this week.  Let us consider another one tonight. God’s patience with us demonstrates just how good He is.

Aren’t you glad that we serve a patient God?  How many times have you put that patience to the test?  I know I have at times.  But God has demonstrated His patience with man almost from the beginning of creation.

1 Peter 3:18–20 (ESV)
¹⁸For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, ¹⁹in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, ²⁰because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.

It took 120 years for Noah to complete the building of the ark (Genesis 6:3). That was the time God patiently gave humanity to repent, while Noah preached to them in an attempt to bring about their repentance (2 Peter 2:5).  Do you remember how sinful man was at that time?  Listen to the Bible itself describe it.

Genesis 6:5 (ESV)
⁵The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
For a God who is morally perfect and impeccably pure, it took a great deal of patience to hold back His wrath for 120 years, but that is who God is, a God of patience.

Psalm 103:8 (ESV)
⁸The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

I appreciate the way David expresses God’s patience in Psalm 103:8, describing it as God being “slow to anger.”  We are blessed beyond measure that such is the case with God, especially in light of His infinite power.  We all know that we sin from time to time.  John tells us that if we deny this truth, we are just deceiving ourselves (1 John 1:8).  Not too many Christians fight back on this.

Yet, in all of our sinning, God loves us, accepts us back when we repent, and continues to bless us with blessings we do not deserve.  Why?  Because He is slow to anger.  He does not give up on us in a state of rage when we sin.  He waits on us like He did with the people in the days of Noah.

Let’s not be presumptuous and think that we can get away with sin due to the kindness, forbearance, and patience of God (Romans 2:3-4), but let us be thankful for His goodness, knowing that it gives us the best chance possible to gain a home in heaven after a while.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.