Proverbs 29:1
He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

God’s patience is well-documented in Scripture.  It is often referred to as longsuffering, meaning not just that He is willing to wait for a long time, but that He endures our offenses against Him.  How much we sin against Him and fail Him—either ignorantly or on purpose.  But either way, He has to put up with quite a lot from us, even when we are His children.  And how big is His mercy for Him to forgive us over and over and give us chance after chance.  He does indeed bear long with us.

But we have to be careful not to take that for granted, because there are often important purposes within His patience.  We are continually being sanctified.  He is molding and shaping us.  He wants us to become something other than what we are right now, and there is a process of reproof that goes with that.  Out of love, He’s willing to correct us and guide us along and let us know when we’ve messed up.  He’s willing to teach us hard lessons because He wants us to be holy like He is.  He has to tell us no sometimes or take something away from us or prod us along back to the right track.

What a blessing it is to our lives when we are correctable—when we’re willing to listen to His Spirit and make changes and go a different direction and forsake some things.  What a wonderful experience to be open to His reproof because we want to grow just as much as He wants us to.  But what a terrible thing it is when we become hardened to that.  What an ugly picture it is when we grow so prideful and stiffnecked that we refuse to listen to what He says.  What a shame it is when He seeks to correct us about the same thing over and over and over and yet we still continue on in our own way, so stubborn and foolish.

May we never get to that point where there is no remedy for what God may bring upon us.  May we not continually refuse to hear His voice.  May we always be open to the reproof of God because we know it’s only for our own good that He is doing it.  And may we refuse to slide down the slippery slope of pride that butts heads with God time and time again, because we will always come out on the losing end.