Snow Falls Slowly (or, I want patience, RIGHT now)
Other than when a blizzard viciously whips the snow around trees and homes, snow usually falls slowly, taking its time to reach its destination. Gravity pulls it down from the clouds, and the air resists its downward trip, producing a meandering, apparently casual, journey to join other unique creations assembled together on the ground, homes, bushes, and trees. The snow doesn’t seem to be in a hurry. And the flakes which already made the journey wait patiently for others to join them.
Patience. What a frustrating word. Aren’t we too busy to be patient? Our life is only for a few short decades, at best. We have too much to do and not enough time to be patient. Every breath we take is one less breath that we have left. Who wants to be patient? Phillips Brooks was a well-known pastor in Boston in the late 1800s. One day someone came to his study and found him pacing the floor. “What’s wrong?” “I’m in a hurry, but God isn’t.” Apparently, God is very patient (2 Peter 3:8-9) and wants us to be patient (James 1:2-4; 5:7-8)
But why is patience so important? James highlights one important reason: Jesus Christ may not return when we think He will or should. James 5:7 tells us to be patient while waiting for Christ to return, just as farmers patiently wait for harvest. The Lord is probably not going to return when we think He will, so how will you handle the problems and frustrations of life? Patiently.
When we consider the return of Jesus Christ, time is not a major consideration to the Lord and not the only factor in His plan. Time is not a major consideration, but timing is. Events happen at the right time. But a lot of time can pass to get to that right time. Since God created time, His relationship to time is different from our relationship to time. The Lord uses time to His advantage but isn’t locked into time or bound by time. (See George Stiekes article.)
Look at 2 Peter 3:8-9 carefully. Literally: “One day with the Lord as 1000 years and 1000 years as one day”. “As” is used for comparison, not identification. Peter does not say that one day is a 1000 yrs or that 1000 yrs is one day. Those who want to use this verse to make Genesis One fit evolution will not find any help in this verse. The verse says that God can’t be placed into our time schedule. God may take 1000 years to do what we think should be done in a day; He may take one day to do what we think can only be done in a 1000 years. The Lord does not have to fit His purposes into our time schedule. The Lord acts when in His wisdom He determines He should act. Not before, not later, but at the right time. “With the Lord” time is irrelevant, but timing is not. His promises are never late, but perfectly on time. The key issue is not lateness but patience. And not just patience in general, but patience toward us, toward people. God waits, but God is never late.
When we say God is patient, we are saying God restrains His actions even though people deserve something else. People do horribly evil sins. And God is patient even to and especially to people who commit unbelievably bad sins. He patiently shows mercy because He is giving people time to repent. Although time is not a major consideration, love for the unsaved is a major consideration.
Why is the Lord patient? One reason is love for others. The Lord God knows that the best gift for people is for people to know Him. God uses the events that take place in time to bring people to the point of repenting and trusting the Son of God as their Savior. 2 Peter 3:9 is an important verse because it tells us that when a person dies unsaved, having never trusted the death of Christ on the cross as total payment for their sin, the responsibility for their condition is that unsaved person’s. God is patient. The responsibility for their eternal punishment is their own.
Why hasn’t Jesus Christ come back yet? Not because God’s timing is off. Not because He’s forgotten. Not because He never will. One of the main reasons is that so many people still need to get saved. Someone may object “But there will always be so many who need to get saved.” That’s right. And that’s what we mean when we say that one day God’s patience and waiting will come to an end. He will not be patient with unsaved people forever. That’s the point of v.10: The day of patience will end, and the day of the Lord will come. Until that day, the snow falls slowly.
Wally Morris is the former pastor of Charity Baptist Church in Huntington, IN. He has also published A Time To Die: A Biblical Look At End-Of-Life Issues by Ambassador International.