In the day and age of today's technology waiting the few seconds for a webpage to load can show our impatience. Peter in these verses talks of a different impatience, an impatience for God to act in a world full of sin. There are those who will mock by saying where is God in this world full of sin and pain. If he is a God of love why doesn't he act against injustice. We can even get extreeme examples of people shouting at the sky, "God if you exist strick me now!" How do we react to such mocking of our faith? More importantly how do stop ourselves falling into the same trap of thinking God is uninterested in the evil and suffering in the world, in our own lives and the lives of our family and friends? In these verses Peter challenges us to stop our navel gazing and remind ourselves of some important truths.
God has at some very imporant points stepped into time and acted. At creation by the power of his word the world came forth out of and through the water. In the time of Noah God bought judgement on the world through a reversal of creation. And through his word this current age is being stored up for the coming judgement through fire. God has acted twice before and he will act again on the last day in final judgement. We trust God because of his word and because of his previous actions. We should not however think God slow in acting out the final judgement at the end of time to rid this world of sin once and for all. Instead we are to understand that the Lord is not slow but patient. The Lord wishes not "that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance"
Instead of longing for the removal of sin from this world we should rejoice in our opportunity to suffer on behalf of Christ and that each day is a gift of grace for those who don't know Christ to turn and repent. In the mean time we hasten that day through lives of holiness and godliness that more might know Christ.
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