“And consider that the long-suffering of our Lord [His slowness in avenging wrongs and judging the world] is salvation, (that which is conducive to the soul’s safety), even as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the spiritual insight given him.” 2 Pet 3:15(Amplified)
When Jesus and His disciples first visited the city of Samaria as recorded in Luke 9:54-56, they were not well received. In fact, they were rejected outright and asked to leave. The brothers James and John were particularly riled by the shabby treatment of their esteemed company. So, they asked Jesus, “Should we call down fire from heaven to consume them?” Jesus Christ severely rebuked His vengeful disciples by saying that He had not come to destroy but to save lives. The fact that you are reading this devotional today is a testament to God’s mercy, for if God had habitually given us what we truly deserved, there would be no one left on earth today. His wrath would have consumed us all.
This proves that God is indeed a patient God and why is that? It is because He does not delight in the death of even one sinner. He desires that all men would willingly turn to righteousness and forsake sin and He ensures that we have ample opportunities to make that change before He unleashes His righteous judgement on us.
The word interchanged for patience in our anchor passage is long-suffering, and it means just that. It means that God willingly takes our disrespect and other vile things that we do to Him and refuses to immediately judge us because He wants us to repent and be changed. He is giving us the opportunity to get to know Him and experience His love. He is giving us a way out of the dead end that we are presently trudging to enable us find the way of life. In a nutshell, He is offering us salvation. Consequently, God’s patience is our salvation. The inhabitants of Nineveh would say amen to that, for it was God’s patience that enabled them to respond to His final warning through the reluctant Job and thus escape eating His grapes of wrath. Apostle Paul will also say a loud and hearty amen, for it was God’s patience that enabled this especially wicked of sinners to receive God’s grace after persecuting Jesus Christ Himself.
So, what implication does God’s patience have for us as Christians? It challenges us to be like our Father, if we are indeed His children, which we are, as assured by His word in Rom 8:14. It means that we should treat our fellow men the way God would treat them – with long suffering. It means that we should patiently forgive their sins the same way God patiently bears with us and forgives our sins. It means that we should patiently love them the same way we daily enjoy God’s patient love – also known as His mercy. It means allowing God to fully live and demonstrate His power and mercy through us so that His purpose for both our detractors and ourselves might be fulfilled. It means allowing God to have His way so that peace, another segment of the fruit of the Spirit can reign supreme. So, if you are truly the child of your Father, then you have to let patience have its way. Will you?
Prayer:
Lord, you said to forgive those who hurt us on seventy times seven occasions in one day. In other words, patiently love our enemies. I can’t do this. So, you will have to do it through me. Lord I am willing. Patiently love through me today in Jesus Name.