Hurrying. Hurrying. Hurrying.

It’s hard to believe that this Saturday is the first of May! May already. Gosh time does seem to fly by. Except when you’re in line, am I right? Whether it’s at the grocery store or at a red light. Then, it’s as if the rotation of the earth slows down. At least that’s how we describe it later. “I was in line for twenty minutes!” When, actually, it was probably three. I mean if you have ever watched the minute hand on your watch go around, you will be surprised how long one minute really is. We hate traffic lights. “This light is so long! This is the longest light ever!” In reality, according to the National Association of City Transportation Officials, lights remain red between 60 and 90 seconds. I was surprised to hear that, almost as much as I was to discover there was such a thing as the National Association of City Transportation Officials or “NATCO” for those in the know. The internet told me, NATCO is an association of 86 major North American cities and transit agencies which was formed to exchange transportation ideas, insights, and practices and cooperatively approach national transportation issues. That’s cool. Nonetheless, 60 to 90 seconds. But, when we are in a hurry, it is like living in slow motion.

We are all in such a hurry nowadays. We microwave food in seconds. We no longer mail letters that took three to five days. Now, communication is instant. An email, text, or Facebook message. When I was growing up, we had to put a coffee pot on the stove and wait for it to percolate. Today, the Keurig machine brews our coffee, tea, or hot cocoa, in under a minute. I remember years ago, every time I ordered anything through the mail, it always said somewhere on the order form, “Please allow 6 to 8 weeks for delivery.” Can you imagine? Today, one click on Amazon.com and two days later, there is a package on our front step. If it takes four or five days, we are crazy! You used to have to wait up to two months (8 weeks)!

Yes, we are all in such a hurry. Hurrying through the day to get to quitting time. Hurrying the week to get to the weekend. Hurrying through the winter to get to summer. Hurrying. Hurrying. Hurrying. I wonder how much we really do miss because we are all in such a hurry.

On the other hand, God is patient, and believe me, we are blessed for it. As we look around at the fallen world we live in, we might sometimes wonder, “Why have you not come back, LORD? We are in dire straits here. What on earth are You waiting for?” It’s an understandable question. One that does have an answer. First of all, we are not the only ones who have asked. Our first century brothers and sisters-in-Christ wondered the same thing. In their case, Jesus had come, and He had promised to return. He said at the Last Supper, “Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again” (John 14:28). Then, five years passed. Ten. Twenty. Thirty. Still, no Jesus. In A.D. 67, thirty-four years after Jesus made the promise, Peter answers the question. “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent…our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved” (2 Peter 3:9, 18).

We all know John 3:16, right? “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” Well, there are so many people who still do not believe. Numbers 14:18 tells us, “The Lord is slow to anger and filled with unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. But he does not excuse the guilty.” God is slow to anger. He forgives everything, but He does not excuse sin. That’s why He sent Jesus so that people would believe in Him and not perish. God does not want anyone to perish. Neither should we.

We should all be thankful for His patience, and, if we really love people and do not want to see them perish, we should do everything we can to tell them about Jesus.              

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