The Patience of God (#315 of 365+)

“He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth
and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives... Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation” (2 Peter 3:9-11, 15)

There is no such thing as a secret sin. God sees everything but even if I refuse to think about that the fact is whatever I try to hide eventually, one day, “will be laid bare.”

Confession—that is, confessing my sins directly to God—is a good practice. Not because I’m going to surprise the Lord by exposing something he didn’t know about me. He’s already seen everything I’ll ever do. The reason to confess my sin is because it forces me to stop lying to myself, quit faking it, drop the charade, and come to grips with the truth: I really do need my Savior. He’s my life. Without him I’d be dead.

Nothing could prevent God from changing his mind and putting an abrupt halt to everything. He could obliterate the universe and start all over again without breaking a sweat. But if he was going to do that he would definitely have done it by now. He could have stopped the Holocaust, Hiroshima, hundreds of millions of abortions, or his beloved Son from having to bear the punishment for the world’s sin on the cross. As I mentioned before, he’s already seen everything. He saw everything before he created anything. He also saw the beautiful, glorious outcome at the end of everything. It must be worth it because we’re all still here.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NASB)

God is eternally patient. The King James Version calls it longsuffering. It’s one of the qualities of real love (1 Corinthians 13). Love always hopes, love always endures, love never fails… God is the perfect example of love. God is love. If I want to know what love is all I have to do is look at him.

Lord, thank you for loving me and saving me from what I deserve. Thank you for breathing life into me, giving me an identity wrapped up in your holiness, and always being patient with my stubborn sinfulness. You deserve so much more than what I could give you. I’ll praise your name from the center of my soul, bow down in reverent worship, and serve you and live for you for eternity—and it will never match the heights, depths, and distances that you’ve reached to bless me. I am honored that your Spirit is always with me even in my darkest hour. Teach me to love with your love and to forgive with your forgiveness. May I understand what it means to be holy because you are holy. I want to be more like you, Lord. Make me more like you. Amen.