But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 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.
2 Peter 3:8-9
Good Morning Beautiful,
Longsuffering has always been a term that I have struggled with understanding simply because I don’t want to be longsuffering (in other words, I don’t want to wait). When I think about longsuffering, I imagine waiting FOREVER! I don’t believe that I have ever met someone who says that they enjoy waiting. People get mad if their food takes too long to cook or if they have to wait too long in a line.
Waiting is not something we take lightly partly because we live in a fast pace world. Anything and everything is at our fingertips. We are people that have learned to master quickness and have found ways to be more efficient. So, if that is the case, why does it feel that God has yet to master this simple technique?
God’s experience of time
In scripture, God’s timing can explain why there seems to be a lag in our time compared to God’s “that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day”(2 Peter 3:8b). Here it shows that God does not experience time the same way that we do. To us, it feels that God is slow, or it may feel as though He has forgotten you. Maybe you think that God got distracted, or you feel that you slipped, and as a punishment, it has caused you to wait even longer (this is me!). You feel as though you have done something wrong, and God is unable to make your request. Well, sister, I can tell you that it isn’t true.
What God says about your life
In scripture, God tells us that He knows our beginning and our end. Sometimes, it’s hard to grasp that God knew us before we came onto this earth. We struggle with the thought, ” ‘Is it possible to think that He chose this life for us?’ ‘This life? That involves singleness, depression, struggling with finances, rejection, and abuse.‘ ” In Jeremiah 1:5, God says, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”
Now, most of us are not prophets, and we aren’t even close to it. Still, just as God was able to tell Jeremiah the desires that He had for his life, God knows the desires He has for our lives “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end“(Jeremiah 29:11). The moment in-between knowing us before we are born and knowing our expected in is what we tend to struggle with the most.
The meaning of the middle
I always find it odd that the life we experience and endure is telling by a simple dash(-) between the day we were born and the day we die. Being in the here and now, I’m sure most of us can say that the dash is a poor representation of our lives because when you have been through the storms and have made it through the valleys, you want more than a dash to represent your life. You want it to spelled out in big letters, ” I ENDURED TILL THE END.” you want to say that your life was a series of tests that had the sole purpose of:
- Bringing glory to God,
- Drawing us closer to God,
- Redirected our lives.
- Test the depth of our faith, and
- Strengthen us for a higher purpose
You want to show others that there is a purpose for your existence. So, why, longsuffering? God teaches us the art of slowing down and taking time to smell the roses by finding beauty in life.
Living in a fast-paced world often has us feeling that we have to meet some unachievable back-breaking demands. For some, it feels as if there is no light at the end of the tunnel–no meaning to life. God understands the importance of time, and He wants all of us to partake in the journey of waiting.
The purpose of the wait
There is purpose in our waiting season. God is never short of His promises, but He understands the true meaning of life. God sees us in a way that we don’t see ourselves, and He knows His people’s needs–At the right time when we need it. The Lord says in His Word, ” And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose”(Romans 8:27-28).
I leave you with this! Your season of waiting is not in vain. You will soon walk into your winning season but don’t dread this moment knowing of longsuffering because if this is an attribute of God, I can assure you that it is vital for a reason. God doesn’t prune us and test us for no reason. God is looking to create experienced followers of Christ!
reflect
- How have you looked at longsuffering? Is it something that you dread?
- Looking back at this list:
- Bringing glory to God,
- Drawing us closer to God,
- Redirect our lives.
- Test the depth of our faith, and
- Strengthen us for a higher purpose
How has your season of waiting been a testament of these things?
