If there is one characteristic that we should be very happy that God has, it is the fact that He is longsuffering. If it were not for the patience of God, we would have little hope of making it to Heaven. Patience, however, is something that God has always shown in His dealings with man, even when he is in a state of rebelling.

1 Peter 3:18-20 (ESV)
¹⁸ For 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, 19 in which he went and pro-claimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared…

This is a very misunderstood passage. Some conclude from it that when Jesus died and went to the Hadean realm, He preached there. Honestly, that makes no sense. Why would Jesus preach to those who are already lost? This passage is not referring to what Jesus did after He died, but rather, to what He did through Noah, warning people to repent. This is why Noah is called a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5). Notice, the spirits in prison “formerly did not obey.” When were they disobedient? We do not have to guess. It was in the days of Noah when Jesus, through him, preached to the spirits who were now in prison.

How long did this preaching continue? We cannot be sure exactly; however, many scholars point to Genesis 6:3 for the answer. There the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh; his days shall be 120 years.” The 120 years is probably a reference to how long it would take Noah to build the ark, which would be the amount of time that Christ, through Noah, preached to the people. No wonder Peter spoke of God’s patience waiting in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared. One hundred twenty years is a long time to patiently wait, but that is the nature of God.

God is still patient. Think of how often we sin. We let God down over and over again, but He con-tinues to forgive us of our transgressions. It does not matter how often we sin or how long it takes for us to rid ourselves of some particular sin that is weighing us down as long as we repent, God forgives us. That’s patience.

There is something else we need to consider about the patience of God. Since God has so much patience with us, he demands that we show patience with each other as well.

Romans 15:5 (NKJV)
⁵ Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, ac-cording to Christ Jesus,

That God desires us to be patient with each other is a natural conclusion when we consider just how patient He is with us. In fact, one would think, since we have all sinned, that we would be more patient with each other than God is, seeing that He has never sinned. God is perfect in eve-ry way, and it is reasonable to think that such a perfect being would have little patience for the shortcomings of others. Thankfully, that is not the case. Still, we could stand to be a little more patient with each other when we fall short, knowing that we, ourselves, are weak in some areas. Let us strive to be more patient, and in doing so, be more like God.

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