How long shall I put up with you?
—Matthew 17:17
Most children go through a period when they are exasperating—and you just have to put up with it. Your spouse? You just have to put up with it.
I had to put up with some contrary people in the churches I served. And people in those churches had to put up with this cranky parson.
Moses complained to God about having to put up with the griping Israelites (Nm 11:10–15). And God had to put up with mad-as-a-hornet Moses (Nm 20:9–12).
For forty years, “[God] put up with [the Israelites’] ways in the wilderness” (Acts 13:18).
Jesus, fed up with his disciples’ lack of faith, said, “How long shall I put up with you?” (Mt 17:17).
I’m grateful that God puts up with me—but I sometimes wonder why he does.
God knows our weaknesses
and loves us anyway.