My Daily Devotional

God is Patient With Us

“Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation.”
2nd Peter 3:15

Just last week when I was in the grocery store picking up a few things, I noticed a woman in front of me with a small boy about 4 years old. This young boy was running all around his mother, and it was obvious that he had enough energy to wear all of us down. His mother tried and tried to get him to slow down, but nothing she did kept him from continuing to run, jump and have a good time. The mother finally said if you don’t calm down I am going to count to ten, and began counting very slowly, One---Two---Three. This incident reminded me of my children when we would take them to the beach in Florida, and when they were getting too far out in the waves Margaret would hold one finger up and then another, and by the time she held three fingers up our children knew that it was time for them to begin coming closer to the shore. I believe God is like this with us as He is also very slow in pulling us in. Hs is a very patient, kind and loving God, and waits on us and counts to ten, and gives us every opportunity to respond to His gentle voice. I believe He gives us the opportunity in many ways, throughout our lives, to come to Him on our own, but He has plans for our lives, and if we don’t come on our own He will begin counting very slowly. I know that I have heard people say that the Lord is just waiting for us to mess up so He can let us have it with some bad things in our life. I don’t believe God is like that as He counts to ten real slow. He states in: Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you; they are plans for good, and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” We all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God, but God is merciful and patient with us, and wants to fulfill His plan for us.