God is Patient

“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

I apologize from the beginning that the video may not be the most professional.  However, I wanted to bring you outside today.  Do you remember the picture I put up on one of my first blogs – the picture of a building being torn down?  Well here it is two months later.  You can see that they are still tearing it down.   They have made progress but it’s slow.  I asked someone why this is taking so long.  They explained that the reason the building is being torn down is that it was full of asbestos.  So they are taking their time, trying to be very careful in order to protect their own health, and the health of all of us who walk by or live near this building. 

As I reflected on that, I thought, “I wish I was that patient.”  When I want something to get done or something to change in me or my situation I want that thing or that change to happen right now.  I am a pretty impatient person.   Right now, Linda and I are going through a major transition, getting used to living not only in a new place but in a new country and culture.  At times, I have found myself apologizing for not adjusting quickly enough to our new life.  Yet everyone here, especially my colleagues at Trinity keep telling me, “Pastor, take it easy on myself.  This kind of adjustment takes time - a long time.”  Some have mentioned 18 months.  “You need to be patient with yourself.”  There is that word again. 

However, like it or not, most change that God is working in our lives, takes time.  I read this past week about a woman who was in such a hurry to make her home look better that she skipped doing any prep work.  She just started painting, right over 8 layers of wall paper.  Two days after she was done the wall paper and the new paint was peeling off the wall in chunks. Her impatience made matters worse.  Before she could start painting, she had to do the time-consuming work of peeling off the old wall paper.  Only then could she apply the new paint and make good changes to her home that would last.

That’s the way it is with the changes God is working in our lives.  The process of making us new takes time.  That process involves first peeling away the old layers of sin… cleaning up the hidden rooms in our lives.  That takes time… a life time in fact.  But when He is done… then He will take us to our new homes, our eternal homes.  In the meantime, because He loves us… because He does not want any of us to perish; He does his work in His time, at His pace.  He is not slow.  He’s just patient.

That’s why I like walking by this building… watching it progress slowly day by day.  It’s a visual reminder to me and I hope to you to give ourselves a break… to trust God’s timing and work in our lives.  Because He goes about His work patiently day by day.  Perhaps we can learn from Him, who is so very patient with us, to be patient too.