🌿 Enduring with Joy: Understanding Longsuffering

By Connie Hill | God’s Toddler Ministry

🌼 Living in Ordinary Time

Salutations, beloved!

As we move through Ordinary Time, the Church invites us to live holiness in the small, hidden places of our daily lives — in our work, our waiting, and our perseverance. These moments, though ordinary, become sacred soil for the fruits of the Spirit to grow — especially the fruit of longsuffering.

✝️ What Is Longsuffering?

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”— Galatians 5:22–23 (KJV)

Longsuffering is more than patience. It is grace-fueled endurance — the ability to remain steadfast in faith when life presses and stretches us.

🔍 Word Study: Makrothumia (μακροθυμία)

• Original Word: μακροθυμία (makrothumia)

• Transliteration: mak-roth-oo-mee'-ah

• Meaning: “Long-tempered”; endurance without revenge; patience that reflects God’s mercy.

Definition:

Longanimity — forbearance or fortitude.

Synonyms: stoic, obedient, uncomplaining, willing, collected, restrained, submissive

Antonyms: impatience, defiance, resistance, disobedience, insubordination

In other words, longsuffering is divine patience — not passivity, but power under grace. It allows us to wait, forgive, and hope again, even when it hurts.

🌾 Longsuffering in Daily Life

Each of us encounters seasons of endurance:

• Waiting for prayers to be answered.

• Walking through loneliness or loss.

• Trusting when the path ahead feels uncertain.

• Persevering when fatigue meets faith.

These are not wasted moments. They are opportunities for Christ to form His strength in us.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”— Romans 8:35

I cannot tell you how to feel in these moments — pain and grief are deeply personal — but I can tell you this: God is present even here. He is not offended by your questions. He is not distant in your sorrow. He sits beside you in the ashes, whispering, “My grace is sufficient for thee, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”— 2 Corinthians 12:9

💧 A Sacred Metaphor: The Olive and the Oil

Oil only flows when the olive is crushed. Likewise, the Holy Spirit produces light through our surrender. The crushing seasons — when our hearts feel broken — are often when heaven’s fragrance is most released.

The fruit of longsuffering, then, is not despair, but refined endurance — endurance that gives off the aroma of Christ.

🌺 How to Endure: A Heavenly Framework

Mercy and grace are extended to the righteous. You are made right by the precious Blood of Jesus Christ, and by His Cross and Resurrection, He has set you free.

So, how do you endure with joy?

We are called to be Easter People — joyful, redeemed, and alive in Christ even during hardship. Our joy isn’t tied to circumstances but to Christ Himself.

Just as diamonds are formed under pressure and oil comes from crushed olives, we too are refined through our suffering. The crushing produces the oil that keeps our spiritual lamps burning bright.

🕊 Scripture Meditation: Philippians 4:6-9

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and commendable — if anything is excellent or worthy of praise — think about these things. 9 Practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

👑 How to Petition the Heavenly Court

1. Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving

   Begin with gratitude. Speak aloud the blessings you still see — health, breath, family, or even the grace to pray.

2. Repent

   Confess any fear, bitterness, or doubt that has taken root. Repentance opens the heart for grace to flow freely.

3. Receive Mercy

   Picture Christ extending His pierced hands toward you. His mercy covers what you cannot fix or carry.

4. Make Your Request Known

   Present your need specifically — not to convince God, but to align your heart with His will.

5. Worship and Rest in Peace

   End in silence or song, allowing the Holy Spirit to fill you with peace beyond understanding.

🌤️ The Fruit That Follows

“Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable... think about these things.”— Philippians 4:8

Longsuffering leads to peace. Peace leads to joy. And joy becomes our witness to the world that Christ is alive in us.

Even now, heaven rejoices over your perseverance. The crushing is not the end — it’s the beginning of new oil for your lamp.

💭 Reflection Prompt

🪔 Where in your life is God asking you to endure with joy?

🕊️ How might the Holy Spirit be producing something fragrant through your waiting?

✨ Closing Encouragement

Beloved, endurance is not punishment — it is participation in divine grace. Every moment you choose patience, hope, or forgiveness, you are bearing witness to the power of the Holy Spirit within you.

🌸 With Childlike Faith,

Connie Hill

Founder, God’s Toddler

Works Cited

“2 Corinthians 12:9.” Bible Hub, https://biblehub.com/2_corinthians/12-9.htm. Accessed 2 June 2024.

“Merriam-Webster Thesaurus: Long-Suffering.” Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/long-suffering. Accessed 2 June 2024

“Romans 8:35.” Bible Hub, https://biblehub.com/romans/8-35.htm. Accessed 2 June 2024.

"Strong's Greek: 3115. μακροθυμία (makrothumia) — patience, long-suffering." Bible Hub, https://biblehub.com/greek/3115.htm. Accessed 2 June 2024.