Bible verses about patience people turn to most are Isaiah 40:31, Psalm 37:7 and Lamentations 3:25-26. The Bible speaks of patience in two ways: waiting on God when His timing is not yours, and bearing with people when they test you. Isaiah 40:31 says that “they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.”
A verse for you
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
A promise for the worn out: those who wait on the Lord receive new strength, to run, and to keep walking without fainting.
KJVBut they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
A promise for the worn out: those who wait on the Lord receive new strength, to run, and to keep walking without fainting.
Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
Be still before the Lord and wait for Him; do not eat yourself up over people who seem to get ahead by doing wrong.
The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.
Written in a book of grief: the Lord is good to those who wait for Him, and quiet hope is good.
And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Do not give up doing good. The harvest comes in its time.
Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
Three habits for a hard stretch: rejoice in hope, be patient in trouble, keep praying.
I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.
When you nearly give up, hold on to seeing God’s goodness in this life, and wait for Him with courage.
Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.
The end of a thing is better than its beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one. Do not be quick to anger.
Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
Patience like a farmer’s: you cannot hurry the harvest, but you can steady your heart while you wait.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
What God’s Spirit grows in a person: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Patience is something you put on each day, like clothing, along with compassion, kindness, humility and gentleness.
He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.
Being slow to anger is a sign of real understanding; a quick temper puts foolishness on display.
With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Humility, gentleness and patience keep the bond of peace between people.
I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
David remembers a long, dark wait: God heard him and lifted him out of the pit. The waiting is part of the story too.
For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
God’s answer to a prophet asking how long: the vision has its appointed time; wait for it, even when it seems slow.
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
James does not ask you to enjoy pain. He says a tested faith grows endurance, and endurance, given time to do its work, makes you whole, lacking nothing.
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
What looks like delay is God’s patience: He does not want anyone to be lost.
Much of the Bible happens in the waiting room. Abraham and Sarah waited decades for a child, Joseph spent years in prison, and Israel waited centuries for the Messiah. The psalms are honest about how that feels: “How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord?” (Psalm 13:1). Waiting on God in Scripture is not giving up but trust that keeps looking to Him: “It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.”
Patience with people is what the KJV calls longsuffering: being slow to become angry. It is part of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and of what Paul tells us to put on each day like clothing (Colossians 3:12). Proverbs says it plainly: “He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding.” It is also how God treats us. What looks like His delay is often His patience, “not willing that any should perish” (2 Peter 3:9).
James links patience with hardship: “the trying of your faith worketh patience.” That does not mean pain is good or that you must pretend to enjoy it. It means endurance can grow in hard seasons, the way a farmer waits through the rains for a harvest he cannot hurry (James 5:7-8).
Patience is not the same as tolerating harm. Bearing with someone’s faults is different from staying silent about abuse or injustice, and waiting on God does not mean you stop acting, asking or seeking help. Scripture pairs waiting with doing: “let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”
Lord, I am waiting, and it is hard. Teach me to rest in You and wait patiently, without fretting over what others seem to have. Renew my strength while I wait, and keep me from growing weary in doing good. Make me slow to anger and patient with the people around me, as You have been patient with me. I trust that Your timing is good, even when I cannot see it. Amen.
For waiting on God, Isaiah 40:31 and Psalm 37:7, “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him.” For patience in hard times, Romans 12:12: “Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer.” For patience with people, Ephesians 4:2.
The Bible does not always explain a particular wait. Habakkuk asked “how long” and was told only that the vision had its appointed time (Habakkuk 2:3). What Scripture does say is that waiting is not wasted: it can grow endurance and hope (Romans 5:3-5), and God’s timing is shaped by mercy (2 Peter 3:9). You are free to tell Him honestly that the waiting hurts.
Yes. In Galatians 5:22-23 the KJV lists it as “longsuffering,” alongside love, joy and peace. It is called fruit because it grows over time as you walk with God, rather than appearing all at once by willpower.
James 1:19 is a practical start: “swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” Proverbs 19:11 adds that it is a glory to overlook an offence. Pray before the hard conversation, not only after it, and remember how patient God has been with you (Colossians 3:12-13).
No. Patience bears with ordinary faults and slow seasons; it does not require you to accept abuse, cruelty or danger. If someone is hurting or threatening you, get safe first and ask for help: in the US, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233; if you are in danger, call your local emergency number.