Longsuffering

In an interview with a man who has spent 52 years of his life in a wheelchair after an accident in his youth, the question was posed to him, “How long is longsuffering?”  He responded, “About 52 years.”  The word longsuffering is an interesting word, and it is used in the scriptures to both describe the Lord and to exhort us.  Moses wrote, “The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth” (Exodus 34:6).  He also testified that “the Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression” (Numbers 14:18).  David also said, “But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth” (Psalms 86:15).  The sense of these declarations seems to be that the Lord is patient towards us in our sins and is willing to forgive us again and again if we repent.  He has mercy towards us no matter what mistakes we make so long as we repent, for “the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering… leadeth thee to repentance” (Romans 2:4).

              Not only is God longsuffering towards us in our weakness, but the Savior also was literally longsuffering in His mortal mission.  He suffered much for us, or as Paul put it, He “endured with much longsuffering” (Romans 9:22).  We describe the pure love of Christ saying that it “suffereth long,” and surely that refers to the Savior Himself (1 Corinthians 13:4).  Nephi described the suffering of Christ this way: “They scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men” (1 Nephi 19:9).  The scriptures refer to His sacrifice as an “infinite atonement,” and for whatever else that phrase means perhaps it refers to some measure of length of His suffering, as if time stood still and He suffered infinitely (2 Nephi 9:7).  Christ endured it all and stands as the supreme example for us in our quest to endure our own trials.  Paul wrote to Timothy that “Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting” (1 Timothy 1:6).  Paul encouraged us to be as the Savior: “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering” (Colossians 3:12).  He likewise encouraged ministers to endure affliction “by pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned” (2 Corinthians 6:6).  As disciples of Christ we are to seek to submit in patience to our afflictions with the same longsuffering He showed.  Christ gave us the pattern to follow in whatever difficulty that we face, and no matter how long we suffer we can know that Christ likewise suffered long and will help us endure it well, whether that is suffering pain for a single day or a disability of 52 years.