7 years. Or a few days.

Genesis 29:20

So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel, and they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.

One of the fruits of the Spirit is not like the others. This brings back an awesome Sesame Street scene that happened every day on a tv run by gas filled tubes with a max of 13 channels on the dial.

Here are the fruits of the spirit - can you pick the one that is not like the others?

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

That’s right, kids! “Longsuffering” is not like the others! These other words offer a look at a life filled with flowers and smiles and sunny days. Longsuffering paints a picture of…, well - suffering. That’s not very cheery now, is it?

So why is that word used as a fruit of the spirit?

Jacob had seven years of labor in order to get what he wanted. Seven years fits Longsuffering any way you look at it. Yet it seemed like a few days to him. That’s probably because he trusted in God and knew the outcome of his work. He had faith that he did not work in vain. His reward was what he desired.

We are not patient creatures. We want what we want and we want it now. That pretty much sums up life. But God! He has a different way. It only makes sense once we have experienced longsuffering and we see then, and only then, why this is a fruit of the spirit.

The entire concept of longsuffering must be of Heavenly origins to make any sense of it. We would always choose a quicker path and those of us that push the path forward at our speed find that we are not rewarded for our gallant efforts. Instead, we are only rewarded when we rely 100% on God and we wait for Him to work His miracles. That requires all the fruits of the spirit to be at work which requires complete surrender of our souls.

Are you ready for a complete surrender? Do any of us really have a choice?