Tag: 2 Peter 3

Jesus holding a child's hand walking on a meadow path surrounded by flowers and trees
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Perfect Patience for Imperfect People

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“The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression;”  Numbers 14:18

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

When my youngest daughter, now 28, was a toddler I found myself praying the same prayer every day throughout the day.  “Lord, give me patience!”  At times I prayed in exasperation but often I prayed through tears.  She is a lovely young woman, now with toddlers of her own; a woman full of love for the Lord.  

As a child, however, she was relentlessly busy—emptying cupboards, climbing counters to reach what I had forbidden, and leaving toys in my path. Rarely idle and endlessly creative, she moved with a confidence that suggested my “no” simply meant I hadn’t yet understood her reasoning.

A friend who was never going to have children once told me to not break her spirit.  Teachers loved her wit and creativity even in Kindergarten.  I responded to them, “You don’t have to live with her.”  She always wanted more – more things, more activities, more of me, more, more, more.  I loved and love her dearly but I was at my own wit’s end most days when she was little.  

More Than Just Patience

One Sunday our pastor at the time spoke the words I so desperately needed.  “If you keep asking for the same thing from God over and over and you aren’t seeing any fruit, then maybe it’s time to ask for something different.”  In that moment I realized I wasn’t praying wrong – I was praying too narrowly.  I had been fixated on patience as if it were something God handed out in isolation, rather than part of a much richer work He was doing in me.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

You find “patience” nestled right in the middle of the fruits of the Spirit.  But surrounding it are so many other good gifts He provides.  I started asking for God to help me release those other aspects of the Holy Spirit.  I needed to slow down, be kind, have joy in what He had blessed me.  Instead of demanding, I started co-working with my daughter.  I sat calmly with her talking about trust and my desire for her safety.  Patience came to me through other gifts.

His Patience Is His Mercy

This struggle with patience didn’t just shape my parenting—it reshaped how I see justice, mercy, and grace.  We should all seek to be patient and merciful to others as God has so graciously done for us throughout our years.  It’s why Christians must push back against the concept of “karma.”  You notice most people who invoke the idea do so in glee of someone else’s suffering?  And yet we all deserve some sort of punishment, probably every day.  For things we said, thought or did or for those things we didn’t.

“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.” Isaiah 30:18

The LORD has been patient with this world for millennium.  He promised never to flood the earth again with His wrath against sin and evil.  Instead, He sent prophets armed with His Word to warn people and to plead with people to trust in Him and Him only.  He even sent His son to take our punishment we so rightly deserve.  

“But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.“ 1 Timothy 1:16

Friend, His patience is a perfect gift for us imperfect people.  We should never say we can’t come to Him because of our failures.  He is waiting for us to seek Him so He can lavish us with forgiveness.  He doesn’t grow weary in His waiting.  However, we are promised that one day the waiting period will be over.  We will all face His eternal justice.  

When non-believers question, “Where is your God?”  We can faithfully answer that He is in the midst of us, patiently waiting for them to repent.  For now, we thank Him for the patience He shows us and the unbelievers we love.  We can thank Him too for the patience He has gifted us through the Holy Spirit. 

As for me and my daughter I can be so thankful for how patient He has been to both of us. Thankful for how much He has loved us. He has blessed us with a beautiful relationship filled with joy. 

“But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” Psalm 86:15

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In His Time

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For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Romans 8:18

In the advent study I’ve been working through we reviewed many of the Old Testament prophecies which came true with the birth of Christ. From Genesis 12 to Isaiah 9 and Micah 5 to Psalm 72 so much of these historical texts focus on the coming Messiah. Even the genealogical texts are there to affirm the lineage of the future King of Kings. 

Some of the events foretold by the prophets have a time span gap of 500 to 800 years before they came to fruition. Surely people in their time brushed much of what they said aside thinking they weren’t speaking in the name of God because the events “never came true.”

St. Augustine, in his autobiography Confessions, is noted as being one of the first to write of and discuss the experience of time. After his conversion to Christianity in about 386 AD he wrote about time in relation to God. 

“Who will lay hold on the human heart to make it still, so that I can see how eternity, in which there is neither future nor past, stands still and dictates future and past times? Can my mind have the strength for this?”

St. Augustine

In God’s eternal existence there is no past, present or future. It is all just now — just one big present moment, Augustine surmised. A bit mind blowing and hard to grasp. For us, a 500 or 800 year wait to see a prophecy come about seems almost pointless. We are creatures of our own conscious timeframe. Our past was last week or last year. The future is next month or next year.

What does all this matter to us now as we live in a broken world? In Romans 8 we are promised that the suffering we see or experience is nothing compared to the promised glory of the Lord that will be shown to us. For some that may mean we expect the results of an election to turn the tide. For others it may be a physical healing, next month. A quick completion of a war means peace will reign forever. I would imagine that during Jesus’ time it meant He was going to conquer the Romans and bring the Jewish nation back into glory.

And since Jesus’ death and resurrection we all, even non-believers, have been waiting for the greatest prophecy to be fulfilled — the return of Christ to complete His victory over evil. Those first century Christians were probably bolstered in their faith by thinking along their own human timeline. They suffered intense persecution and death, all on the promised return of the Savior. The entire chapter of 2 Peter 3 is a great read on this topic. But let me pull out this one verse:

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.  2 Peter 3:9

At the end of the weekly advent study we were asked, “What evidence is there in the world today that Christ truly did come to reign as King over all His creation?” One member answered simply, “The existence of the Bible.” And she’s right. The Bible is filled with historical documents, proven over and over throughout history to be true. Jesus was a real man who was seen as a resurrected Savior by hundreds of people. He says the Old Testament and is prophecies are true. And as Frank Furtek of Stand to Reason once said, “I tend to believe the guy who said he would die and rise again, when he actually did rise again.”

My answer? All around us we see evil striving harder than ever it seems to fight against the will of God. Trying to erase God from our everyday lives. They are thrashing and gnashing and screaming — as they are being pressed back against the coming truth of God’s judgment day. In the face of all the unrest, anger, selfishness, and sinful behavior however, thousands are being baptized each month in the name of Jesus Christ. Masses of people are coming to the Lord knowing they want to be on the right side of the coming judgment.

Friends, the glory of the Lord was seen on the first light of day many millennia ago. He saved a remnant of His chosen people to be the first witnesses to the glory of His coming to earth to save us from our sins. One day the whole world will see His glory reign throughout the earth when He comes again. Until then we can rest in steadfastness that He is the God who fulfills all His promises, in His time, not ours.

May all Honor, Glory and Power be to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen

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Savior King

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"Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory!" Psalm 24:10

Yesterday, in the Advent study I’m working through we were tasked with listing the names and characteristics of Jesus from various Old and New Testament scriptures. The names included: child, son, Son of the Most High, Father, Counselor, God, Prince of Peace, Lord, King, Jesus and Messiah/Savior. Attached to these names were adjectives such as wonderful, mighty, great, everlasting, zealous, wise, and upholder of justice and righteousness.

We were then asked to highlight the name and characteristic that we believe to be the most significant. Which would you say? It may depend on your current state of mind or the situation you find yourself in. But let me back up a bit and take us to the year 2019. There were just a few small things going on in the world that year. A worldwide pandemic for one. And the U.S. election for a new president.

What was your state of mind at the time? Were you afraid for your health? Worried about who would lead the world’s most influential country? Concerned about the status of your job? Upset about the situation with your children’s schools? Angry about people wearing masks or not? Abandon by your church for shutting their doors? Distraught over a loved one’s death? The year 2019 certainly held a lot of opportunity for all those emotions. At the time, the bigger question was: being honest, who did you cling to? The TV newscasters? Health officials? Elected leaders? Family? Or God?

"Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed." 1 Peter 4:12-13

“When His glory is revealed.” What does that mean for us in the here and now? We suffer through leaders seeking their own glory through greed and immorality. We hear false teachers leading Christians astray with destructive heresies (2 Peter 2:1). Neighbors and even family and friends follow their sensual desires and blaspheme the truth (2 Peter 2:2). And we shouldn’t be surprised. It is all written in God’s Holy Word. But what is also written is that there will be a day of judgment. 

"The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed." 2 Peter 3:9-10

My friends, if we believe that Jesus is a real person who walked this earth as both God and man; if we see how the truth of the prophets in the Old Testament came to pass over and over; if we have experienced our glorious God working throughout our life, then we must place the banner of truth on the promise of times to come.  We must look different than the world. Our choices both physically and emotionally must cause others to ask us questions. ”Why aren’t you worried?”

I’ll tell you honestly the Lord was doing a might work in me in 2019. On one hand, I allowed myself to be carried away with all manner of worldly emotions. On the other, I began clinging to God. The battle of the heavens was revealed in little ‘ole me.  I know that God is winning and will be victorious. Just the other day a good friend shared her husband’s observation of me. He told her how much I’ve changed over the years. I almost cried when she shared that he called me “gentler.” And I raised my hand up giving God, the Victorious, all glory.

Jesus is all the names I listed during my study. He has all the characteristics found in those scriptures. Surely the name Savior should speak most to us especially during times of trouble and strife. He came to save us from a terrible judgement. He is the Savior King who will uphold all final justice and righteousness. Knowing that this glorious and powerful God cares about those two things should bring us everlasting peace. 

The world is a mess, just like it was hundreds of thousands of years ago. Just like it was when the Romans ruled throughout Israel, Judea, Samaria and the far reaches of Europe when the Jews sought an earthly king to save them. The Word of God promises us it won’t get better until Jesus returns. So, let’s put our hope and peace and love in His hands. He is the only one who will lead us into victory.

Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen