Be Patient

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
 – 2 Peter 3:9

Let’s face it, there are mornings I wake up and read the news and become completely discouraged with the current state of the world.  I look at the poverty, the wars, the corruptness, greed and scandals; and ask myself how much longer.  Have you been there?  Have you found yourself at times wondering, “How much longer God.  How much longer must we wait for your return?”  It’s so hard to look upon all of the evil in this world and not be overwhelmed by the challenge before us as believers in Jesus Christ.  Daily we hear of violent crimes against children, abuse of spouses, murder in the streets, oppressive governments, incurable disease, increases in homeless and unemployed and the deception of world views on our youth, drawing them away from Christ.  There are days I wake up and feel sick to my stomach as I hear the stories of what is happening around the globe to those that stand up for their faith.

This isn’t a new feeling, as much as it seems to be getting worse each day.  Peter, Paul, Barnabas, John and the others struggled with it in the days of the early church as well.  Recall the circumstances at the time; Jesus had died, been resurrected and had appeared to them on numerous occasions.  Then there came that period of unrest as these mighty apostles of our Lord fought the customs and culture of the time, to propagate a belief in someone that had not appeared in 20 – 30 years.  Preaching the return of Jesus Christ was a part of their ministry, but there had to be a vision that it would be within their lifetime.  Their one on one relationship with the man Jesus Christ led them to this belief as I’m sure you can imagine.  They had experienced His physical presence intimately before He died as well as after His death.  To them it was only a short matter of time before they would all be taken up with their Savior.

Peter’s statement here in 2 Peter 3 is unbelievably difficult to grasp when we are faced with a population of over 7 billion.  We are told in Matthew 24:14 that the gospel will be taught to all nations before the end will come.  Are there remote areas of the world that have never had the gospel shared with them?  Certainly, there are.  Some would say that we should quickly take the message to these remote areas, and then Christ will return.  I don’t believe it is that simple.  I don’t believe you can drop a bunch of bibles off in the remote rainforests to jungle tribes and walk away satisfied that the world is now ready.  You see it’s not a checklist. 

Many of us are impatient for Christ’s return because we are unwilling to fight for His cause any longer.  I have discovered that many are tired.  It is not easy to spread the word and to stand up to the worldly views of atheism and other worldly religions.  By allowing ourselves to be drafted into the world perspectives we see the misery and challenges in the world.  We take our eyes off of the One who is above the world.  Do not forget the God to whom you serve.  If you, like me, believe that God is Almighty, Omnipotent and sovereign than you must also realize that He could step in at any moment and put an end to it.

If God chose for Christ to return tomorrow, I pray that you were in a relationship with Him and that you and I would enjoy eternity forever together.  What a unbelievably joyous day that will be for His children.  Of the billions of people in this world, less than 1/3 profess a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  If God came back today, what do you think happens to 2/3 of the world’s population?  Now ask yourself the more difficult question – Who do you know right this minute that, based on your limited view of their life, will not be taken up at that moment?  There is likely someone very close to you that does not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Perhaps there are many, even hundreds that you know.  Do you have compassion for them?  Do you long for them to find the love and forgiving grace that you have?  Are you okay with them being cast into the lake of fire for all of eternity?

God has incredible patience for them.  We must endure through our selfishness and desire to look after ourselves and focus our attention on those they are blinded by the world.  As the Christmas season draws upon us this year I want you to make a list of those you want to truly see the Christ child be born, and take the action to reach out to them during the next 7 weeks.  Let them find the baby in a manger that can bring them salvation one day.  It will be the greatest gift you can give this Christmas.

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