Time vs Change

2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

Humanity is born into a life defined by parameters. It is understood that we only have a certain amount of time on earth to achieve our potential and live a happy life. God himself is timeless. His existence reflects eternity. How this relates to our relationship with God can be confusing. Men have spent years attempting to compartmentalize God to assist our definitions of righteousness and success. In a society dependent on instant gratification, we think the process of sanctification (becoming more like Christ through a personal relationship with him) should be as quick as the decision of salvation. Becoming more like Christ is a process. We understand we will never be perfect as Christ was, but should desire to live and love as he did while he was on earth. It is our efforts to bathe ourselves in scripture, communicate with God and practice the fruits of the spirit that will ultimately strengthen our faith and make us more like Christ. These things take time. We can not wake up one day and decide, “today, I am going to be more patient. Let me sit here in this chair and be patient….” NO!!! It takes time and practice in circumstance to apply these virtues and thus change your life. We can not expect to wake up righteous just as we can not expect to wake up a virtuoso musician. It takes practice, hard work, help and even failure to grow as a believer in Christ.

I heard Dr. Negrut, a professor of a theological seminary in Romania say, “It takes many years for an oak tree to grow to its full potential and until it dies it is still growing. But, it only takes one summer to grow a cucumber. Do you want to be an oak tree for Christ or just a cucumber?” God can not be trapped by our parameters of human time. We may think our progress is slow, but that is just God using the nature of life to grow an oak tree for the advancement of His kingdom. Let your life be a testament to God’s promise and patience and show those virtues to others today.