Two Days Hence

Read: 2 Peter 3:8–10

But do not overlook 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 to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient 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 roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Examine:

Peter instructs the church to remember that from God’s perspective, a millennium passes like a day, and a day packs in the detail and weight of a millennium. Some people would think that God has been unfaithful to His promise to return and make a new earth, accusing Him of delay, but in reality He is not slow. As He often says in the prophecies, “In its time, I will do this swiftly” (see esp. Isaiah 60:19–22). Peter tells us that what we might interpret as slowness, impotence, is actually patience, as God wants everyone to have a fair shot at repenting. Nevertheless, God’s patience will not delay the second coming into eternity, and at an unexpected time His day will come, and things will just get crazy. The stars and planets will be swept away, burned up, and gone, and all the things people have done on the earth will be known and submitted to judgment.

Apply:

At the time of this writing, by God’s perspective, less than two days have passed since His latest visit. Or 7.2e8 years. God’s resolution on time is so much greater than mine that I can only grasp the lowest granularity over 2000 years. But this isn’t about math, this is about the most important question in my life: Does God keep his promises? After all, as Paul said, “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19). It’s easy for me to be caught up in self-pity, as to me a day is a day, and a year is as a year, and those two are both significant fractions of my life. But God invites me in His word to consider the story from the world’s creation to its resurrection, and beyond. While I’m waiting through what feels like an eternity, God is on the verge of accomplishing His kingdom here, waiting for us stragglers to turn to Him. God is not slow; He is faithful. When He returns all the deeds of the earth will be laid out at once and crumpled into a moment of decision, and they will not appear so ponderous or impressive, not compared to the awesome might of the one who sits in judgment!

So, don’t be depressed or dismayed by the passing of time, don’t let it shake your faith in God’s faithfulness. Don’t be impressed or distressed by the events that occur in this life, because they will all be laid bare in the last day. God is big and patient; He keeps His promises and executes them with terrific power in their time.

Pray:

God, years keep coming and coming and spreading themselves out in front of me like an endless track towards a hazy notion of death. I cannot see what lies ahead, certainly not when sun has faded and moon is dead. But in the meantime I grow old, and wonder what any of this is for, and in my heart I don’t feel you coming, because 2000 years is too many for me to fit into a model of intention. But give me Your eyes Lord! And when I do not have Your eyes at least let me recall this fact: that to You a thousand years is but a day, and the troubles of my day are as to You a thousand years. You’re watching closely God, and working patiently. Thank You for Your steadfast love and Your enduring power. Remind me daily that You are still working for our repentance, and that it is a worthwhile task. Remind me daily that any day could be the day of Your return, and give me a heart that yearns for and rejoices at its coming. There’s a perversion in my soul that makes me love this current world and the deeds I can accomplish in it, but accomplish something greater Lord, and teach me to love Your kingdom far beyond my own! Teach me to revel in Your works, O God, and not my own. Teach me indeed to cast aside my ambitions as rubbish compared to the all-surpassing wonder of knowing You, and finally living in the eternal light of Your kingdom on the new earth.