I must have been driving too slow, because I glanced in my rear view mirror and the car behind me sat on my bumper. At the first opportunity the driver flew by with a glance of disapproval, the speed limit a mere suggestion. But I get it, somedays my hurry exceeds my politeness, and I mutter under my breath about slow drivers.

I often think the Lord is too slow. Too slow to meet needs, too slow to ease pain, too slow to stop evil, and too slow to help me understand it all. It’s an age-old question—God, why are you so slow? The Apostle Peter wrote to a church struggling with the same question, helping us peer into the heart of God:

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

The Lord may seem slow to me, but God works with a different calendar. If a thousand years are like a day, then the American Revolution occurred a few hours ago. Yesterday was the Dark Ages. Who knows what this evening will bring?

The Lord’s slowness feels like a lack of concern, or even inattentiveness. But God, not bound by my time, works on a schedule determined by tides of repentance and perishing. The Lord will indeed return like a thief, with heavens destroyed and the earth laid bare. But on his timetable.

The Lord wants all to turn toward him, so he waits. And the world holds its breath, a new heaven and new earth delayed only by the compassion of God.

2 Peter 3 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Tahamie Farooqui