A Pause to Ponder God's Word
"God's Not Slow"

 It was so frustrating. The computer connection was slow. But then again I was retrieving information from thousands of miles away and it was still a matter of minutes, rather than the days it would take via postal service. We live in an instant society. Fast and slow is now in terms of seconds. It is a day of fast food, speedy connections, super-fast computers, higher auto speed limits, and faster travel. We get frustrated, even angry, at having to wait in line, slow service, traffic, and things that take too much time. We measure time with chronometers that measure time in ever-smaller increments. Yes, we have a limited view of time and this view greatly impacts out understanding of how God works.

The people were becoming tired and frustrated. Persecution of Christians was now rampant. They had held on to the hope that Jesus would soon return and put and end to it all. He promised that He would return, but where was He? Why was He being so slow in keeping His promise?  Frustration was setting in and discouragement was just around the corner. Peter was concerned for the early Church, afraid that they would abandon the faith and give up. So he wrote them a letter of encouragement in which he notes a very important fact: "The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)

The early disciples struggled as we do with issue of time. The delayed return of Christ led them to doubt that He would return at all, thus they were becoming discouraged. Though this verse speaks specifically to Christ's return, it rises out the overarching faithfulness of God. He is true to His Word and when it seems He is slipping in keeping His Word, He is not. We look at and understand time in "chronos," the minutes, hours, days, weeks, etc. But God works within the framework of "kairos," which is time understood broadly, such as a period of time. That is why Peter uses the illustration, "with the Lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day." (2 Peter 3:8) This is not to be understood as some sort of mathematical way to discover God's timetable. Rather it is an illustration that although God's timing is different from ours, it is nonetheless perfect.

God is not slow in keeping any of His promises and though it is not always fast enough for our liking or understanding, He does His work in perfect timing. What seems like slowness to us is actually patience. God is being patient with us for He does not "want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." His patience has to do with our salvation: "Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation." God doesn't want anyone to perish, but all to have their life transformed and turned around, grounded in Him. This is not only true with regard to our Lord's return, but with all of God's work in us. We can be confident that God is faithfully accomplishing His plan and purposes in perfect timing. He is not slow in keeping His promises!

Beloved let us relax and rest in our God's faithfulness. He is patiently persistently and passionately fulfilling His promises in and through us.  Let us take heart in the assurance that He will accomplish His promises in "just the right time!"

Keep Close to Jesus
Pastor Gerry


A Pause To Ponder God's Word is written and distributed by Gerald Whetstone, Ordained Elder and teacher in the Church of the Nazarene. These devotionals may be transmitted, duplicated, used in part or in entirety without permission for nonprofit purposes only. Responses welcome. To Subscribe Click Here.
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