Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

This would be easier if Paul had used a word like steadfast. He didn’t. Suffering is hard on the nerves. It is hard on the body. Since we are talking about spiritual fruit, perhaps we should focus on spiritual suffering rather than physical suffering. That way we are comparing apples to apples.

How do you suffer spiritually? My first instinct is to say I suffer when I sin. The longer I go without confession and repentance, the longer I suffer. The Holy Spirit is assigned the unpleasant task of chastening us. I do not believe He enjoys it, but knows how to get us back into that abiding state of relationship with the true vine.

My second thought was over unanswered prayers. If you have issues you care deeply about, years of prayers can wear you out. There have been years of prayers for loved ones who eventually came to Christ and I rejoice. There were times when it just didn’t seem like it was going to happen. We can do that in our own strength, right? Maybe.

Then there are those periods of spiritual droughts where you don’t hear from God. It seems like no amount of prayer, listening and reading the word brings refreshment to your lips. You go over every decision, every conversation and opportunity to try and identify where you got off the path. For me the greatest suffering is when the one I love stops talking to me. It seems like many of us suffer long periods of spiritual drought.

When you come out on the other side of that one, you have changed. It turns out to be character building. Christ left the Godhead, came to earth and humbled Himself. The character built in Him over that time was not God, it was man. He felt all that we feel in separation from the Father but only greater because He had come from the Father. Perhaps those longsuffering dry spells is to show us how He might have felt.

Or maybe I am just tired of being imperfect and I cannot wait to be with Him. But I cannot do that. I have a calling and my work is not done. So I wait on His promise, and wait and wait and wait.