I remember as a kid having a hard time with the presents that were under the tree well before Christmas. I know for a fact that I shook boxes and checked their weight. I have a faint recollection of one time tearing away some scotch tape to catch a glimpse of what was behind the wrapper to then carefully reapply it precisely where I found it. I think I might have done that, but looking back, there’s no way. No way I would have been so impatient to ruin my Christmas surprise! Would I have really done that?
Patience is difficult, isn’t it?
Last Sunday was the second Sunday of Advent. The readings from the lectionary for that day contained a passage from 2 Peter 3 about the promise of the Lord’s coming. Considering that Advent is a season of anticipation, it makes sense to consider a text that focuses on the appearing of Jesus.
And yet, our waiting is not the only thing given attention to in 2 Peter 3. The waiting that is also under review is the way in which God waits.
It’s not even so much a lesson on how to be patient but a call to pay attention to the patience of God. A patience that doesn’t seem to slow down or enervate. A patience that doesn’t fluctuate. It’s almost as if God’s patience is His posture.
Why does it matter? Why should we, as the writer says, not ignore the fact that God is patient?
Have you ever felt like God has given up on you? Then pay attention!
Have you ever felt that God has lost interest in you? Listen up!
Have you ever wondered if God has given up on anyone? It doesn’t sound like it!
It sounds like God is patient — with all of us.
After talking about how God is not constrained by time, we are made aware of an astounding truth. 2 Peter 3:9 says,
“The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.”
With God, there is no giving up. He is patient toward you and will continue to be patient. But beyond you — and maybe you need to hear this truth even more today — God is patient with those that you have given up on. I’m not saying there aren’t times where it’s important to let people go. I’m just saying that when we do, they are still held in God’s patience.
And maybe His patience will rub off on us.
Maybe we will learn that with God there is no forcing a heart change. There is no violation of a will. No need to control someone’s behavior. No need to manipulate a decision.
How often do we try and force things? How often do we also give up?
God does neither.
Unlike little me who shook presents in my hurry toward Christmas, God doesn’t shake us to rush us. He is not impatient in that way.
And that is such good news. In fact, there might not be better news.
As we wait this Advent season, be encouraged. God’s patience is not only giving you strength to wait for his appearing, but strengthens you for His appearance. Because God always comes in a posture of patience, we can patiently wait for Him without fear.
Thanks for reading! I know what you are saying and hesitated using that picture because of how we commonly think about God shaking us... “Shake me to wake me!” And yet even though I need to be shaken from my stupor, His patience won’t rush things... like my shaking of the presents under tree. To me, that is a picture of my hurry to get to Christmas. Maybe what I perceive to be a shaking is God’s unhurried patience at work in my life.
I love this. It amasses me how patient God is with me. I wonder if God does, sometimes, shake us though, spiritually speaking. I’m thinking of key things we go through and how God uses those a things to awaken us. Maybe our prayer could include the request for God to shake us or those we pray for.