Sunday Reflections
Sunday Reflections
Time Means Nothing to God
“But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up.”
“Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be kindled and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire! But according to his promise we wait for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
“Therefore, beloved, since you wait for these, be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.” (2 Peter 3:8-14)
I have to admit, Peter is probably my favorite disciple of them all. There’s something so “human” about him. I think it’s because he seems to be so easy to relate to. This is a guy who was all fired up to follow Jesus, almost zealot like in the beginning. But the whole time during Christ’s three year mission, he never truly understood what Jesus was trying to teach them all, even though he sure thought he knew. He was impatient, ferocious in his support of Jesus, to a fault, and swore he’d do anything for Him, when in the end on calvary, he did just the opposite, he denied Him. How many of us are the same way? Flawed humans who claim at the top of the mountain that we’d do anything for our Savior but when the you know what hits the fan, we run and hide.
However, things really change for Peter after Christ returns from the dead. Not only does Jesus forgive Peter for his denial, but tells him that he will be the rock upon which His church on earth will be built! That right there should give any of us flawed and broken humans hope! Every time I think of Peter, I feel hopeful because, there is no doubt that I have been just like Peter in life on many different occasions. And then when I look I Peter, my heart brightens knowing that God is so forgiving.
I love the first part of this particular scripture, because it reminds me of what my grandmother used to try to get through my thick little brain when I was a child, when it came to prayers and God answering them. As a child I would get so impatient if I felt that my prayers weren’t getting answered. She would sit me down and look me in the eyes and say to me “Sweetie, you need to realize that time means nothing to God because He’s eternal and has no need for keeping time. So one day or one thousand years is all the same to Him and He answers ALL prayers just in His time.” Peter basically is telling us the same thing, that time is meaningless to God and that should give us hope that even if it seems like our prayers are not being heard or answered, they are always being heard and being considered, just not on our schedule. There was also this my grandmother would tell me if I thought prayers weren’t answered: “Honey, God answers ALL prayers, it’s just that sometimes His answer is ‘No.’”
I also believe since Peter was once impetuous and impatient while Jesus walked among His disciples, he understands exactly how we believers can be impatient when we are anxiously awaiting an answer from God. This is why he tries to teach us that God does things in a manner in which doesn’t jive with our understanding of time. Peter learned himself, after His resurrection, just how important it was to learn not just humility but also patience when it comes to our Father in heaven. God takes time to answer us to give us time to find the path that He wants us to be on because He doesn’t want any of us missing out on the treasures that He has stored up for all of us in heaven. We need to learn to use the time that He grants us on this earth wisely to try and make things right with Him so that we don’t lose out when we are called to stand before His throne.
Peter, from his own experiences both negative and positive knows just how important it is that we find our way to repentance and be prepared at a moments notice for His actual physical return. Even if we don’t believe that it could happen in our lifetime, Peter warns us of how important it is to live a life that prepares us for that return because no one knows but God when His return will be. So, it’s far better to live our lives as if we know He’ll be knocking on our door tomorrow morning. Because time means nothing to God and we need to prepare and ready the way of the Lord, every day we are still on this earth.
Ready the Way - Click here to listen to song.