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.
Patience. Something we all struggle with from time to time. We get impatient with so many things. We don’t like waiting. Sitting at the doctor’s office, we just want to get the appointment over. Waiting to hear if we will be offered the job is so stressful. Waiting in any kind of line for anything drives us nuts. We don’t like to wait. We have no patience.
I was thinking about this the other day as I was having to wait for things to start working on my work computer so I could do what I needed to do. As I thought about this, and the many times God has tried to teach me patience, I came to a realization I had never really had before. God is always trying to teach us patience and yet, He is the most patient of all!
So often we backslide, we make mistakes and beg for forgiveness. We feel like we will never be good enough, can’t do anything right, will never have our names written in the book of life. We feel like failures. We can’t do anything on our own merit to be saved, only God can do that. Only He saves. What we miss is the fact that while we are struggling to figure things out, God is waiting.
God is waiting for us to come to Him. God is waiting for us to pray. God is waiting for us to listen to His gentle, reassuring voice. God is waiting for us to respond to His correction. God is waiting for us to reach for Him and take His hand, while all the time His hand is outstretched for ours. God is waiting, patiently. Through all the times we push Him aside to follow our own way, He is waiting for us to hear the Shepherd’s voice and come home. His patience is never ending, just like His love.
Stop, close your eyes, take a breath, then calmly wait. In the silence you will hear God saying, “come to Me My child, I’ve got this”. He has been waiting so long for us, let’s learn from Him and find our patience. The reward of a peaceful eternity is right before us!