A little fuse can control enormous machineries and complicated circuits. A blown fuse can leave a house in the dark and in the case of high voltage fuses, an entire neighborhood or city without electricity. Fuses also regulate engines in all kinds of vehicles, including airplanes, rockets, cars and everything else that has electric or electronic circuits.
A little (blown) fuse was responsible for “grounding” my lawnmower this past weekend. I charged the battery for two days straight and the mower showed no signs of life. I even bought a new battery and…you guessed it, nothing. Then, my brilliant son (don’t tell him I said that!) suggested that I check and replace the fuse and voila! The tractor came back from the dead.
There are many different kinds, sizes and shapes of fuses, but none of them work on a human being except for one: The Makrothumia fuse. “Makrothumia” is Greek word that it is often translated in the Bible by the English word “longsuffering.”
Regular fuses are described as “sacrificial devices” by the technological community, because they protect the engine or circuit from being damaged. In the same way the Makrothumia “fuse” allow believers to protect their Christian testimony as we endure many trials and attacks without “blowing up” in anger, especially in front of unbelievers.
Our God is a “Makrothumia” God (1 Timothy 1:16; 2 Peter 3:15). Psalm 86:15 declares:
“But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.”
Numbers 14:18 also affirms that,
“The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression”
We all need a little Makrothumia (or in my case, a lot of it). We all need to have a “long fuse” to be patient and forbearing with everyone, especially with those in the family of God. In James 1:19 we are exhorted to be patient:
“So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.”
A. G.
