2 Peter 3:9—”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.”
Put on the evening news – on one side you have Isis doing their bit governed by a leader with head strong views, on the other side the US government declares marriage between same sex people as legal, on the third side we have bombs exploding, earthquakes, drastically-changing climatic conditions, new diseases taking on newer strains of virus and not withstanding (slowed down or curbed) existing medicines. Everywhere we look, things are taking a turn for the worse: integrity is doing the downward spiral, families are breaking up, truth being hidden. What do we believers do? We are meant to mix with the world but not be a part of their doings. We may have thoughts on what to do now, confusion to stay true to the righteous path, complex moments on how to cope; how to hold on, keep our faith and continue doing the will of our Father?
2 Peter 3 reminds us of our Saviour, Lord Jesus. The first time Jesus, came to the world as a baby, as a child who did the will of the Father, as an example of how He intended for us to live while on earth – an evidence of love, patience, and humility. The chapter also reminds us of the prophecies about the second coming of Jesus:
-Scoffers will abound in sin and ask about Jesus’ coming.
-They will overlook that the first earth created by God’s Word was wiped out earlier in Noah’s days because of the very reason of people living as they pleased, in sin; they will overlook that God’s promise of never destroying earth with water again had the indication of a rainbow.
-They will forget that the heavens and earth, that now exist, are being saved up for the second coming of Lord Jesus. However, this time Lord Jesus will come with wrath, with fire, for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
A day of our Lord, if measured, is equivalent to 1000 human years; so, do not think that the Lord has forgotten His promise. Our hope is in Jesus our Saviour. He is not slow. On the contrary, He loves us so much. He knows our every day – our confusion of living in these days, the times when we have gone astray, when we have backtracked. God wants every one of us to repent, to be saved and not perish in the everlasting. Remember even the angels in Heavens who were in sin perished. So Christ gives us another time, season, or day so that we can repent and confess our sins to be forgiven. Jesus restrains himself on account of us; He holds back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change. When we intend mischief, God sends many stops to hinder us, as if to say, ‘Take heed what you do’. Jesus will return to judge us by our intentions and work that we have done. You say the wicked men often escape suffering here. Jesus cares for you. Jesus doesn’t want you to go in the way of the wicked men who often escape suffering on earth because these men are kept for the day of judgment, to be punished with the devil and his team. Remember this – when God sends destruction on the ungodly, He commands deliverance for the righteous.
