God’s Patience and Our Growth
“Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” – 2 Peter 3:14-18
Do you ever find yourself impatient? I know I do. Peter’s final words in 2 Peter 3 are all about patience: primarily the Lord’s patience, but it touches on our patience as well. You see, Peter’s closing paragraphs are all about the “day of the Lord.” That refers to the judgment aspect of Christ’s second coming. There are a lot of theories about the timing and details of Jesus’ second coming, but what all believers hold in common is that they affirm that Jesus is coming back again, and one part of that coming is the judgment of unrighteousness. People were already scoffing in Peter’s day, asking “where is his coming?” To respond to this objection, Peter draws our attention to the patience of the Lord.
He says that we should see the patience of God as “salvation.” That is, if God’s patience did not exist and weren’t so benevolent, none of us would stand. Also, God’s patience doesn’t indicate that He is pulling back on His promise – it simply means that the appointed time in which the last of His people reach repentance has not come yet. So one simple application of this chapter is that we should be patient, because God is exceedingly patient.
But Peter’s final application in this letter tells us to do more than “wait.” It tells us to “grow.” Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That is, we mustn’t sit idle and twiddle our thumbs while we wait, we are to grow. We are to grow in grace and knowledge. Now, what does this mean? How do we grow in grace and knowledge? Well, two main ways that we grow in these areas are by experience and by practice. We grow in grace and the knowledge of Christ by experience as we live our days seeing the patience of the Lord. We live our days learning more about Christ in the scripture. We grow by experience when we walk with the Lord longer and longer. “Growth” negates “stagnancy.” There may be seasons of drought in our Christian experience, but may there never be stagnancy, may there never be decay.
We grow by practice, as well, when we put Jesus’ words into action. We grow by practice as we do the things he commanded us to do (Matthew 28:18-20). Grace is favor, it is help, and we grow in that favor and help when we apply it to our lives. God’s grace is not just a theological idea, it is a legitimate reality in our live to be held on to, applied, and utilized. And lest we think this is some kind of legalism (earning salvation), remember that even the Lord Jesus, who was perfect in all His ways, was said to “grow in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.” So there is an element of this kind of growth that even Jesus Christ Himself experienced, which is fitting because He has been faced with every kind of temptation that we have, and he never sinned. He never sinned, but He still grew. He grew in wisdom, and he grew in grace (favor).
What Peter contrasts this growth with is ignorance and instability. This is one of my favorite passages in scripture, because one Bible author refers to another Bible author, and says that the words are hard to understand! Peter says, “Brother Paul’s words are hard to understand, but that is no excuse to twist them like the ignorant and unstable do.” This is why growth is so important. The ignorant and unstable assume they have a correct understanding. In stead of growth, they’ve reached stagnancy at a point of error. This is to their own destruction. A helpful application of this might be; simply because something in God’s word is difficult, doesn’t mean it is unimportant. We could extend that also by saying, just because something God ordains or allows (like suffering or waiting) is difficult, it does not mean it is unimportant. We must ask for growth.
John Newton wrote a little known but deep and searching hymn titled “I Asked The Lord That I Might Grow.” In it, he recounts the struggle of asking God for this kind of growth in His life. He was met with great difficulty, sometimes even sensing abandon. The first two stanzas read like this.
I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith and love and ev’ry grace,
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek more earnestly His face.
‘Twas He who taught me thus to pray,
And He, I trust, has answered prayer,
But it has been in such a way
As almost drove me to despair.
Do you see that agony and confusion? In asking God for growth, God answered the prayer in a way that almost caused Newton to despair. And thus it is in God’s providential ways at times. There is a greater, far-reaching scope of work that God is doing, but at times we sense it only as suffering with no gain. But, we are not to despair, we are not to twist that experience to our own destruction, but rather we are to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ in that suffering, in that learning, in that school of God’s leading. Newton comes to resolution, and it is glorious. The final stanzas say this.
“Lord, why is this,” I trembling cried;
“Wilt Thou pursue Thy worm to death?”
“’Tis in this way,” the Lord replied,
“I answer prayer for grace and faith.”
“These inward trials I employ
From self and pride to set thee free
And break thy schemes of earthly joy
That thou may’st find thy all in Me.”
God’s patience and our growth go hand in hand. His patience gives us opportunity for faith, trust, endurance; fruits of the Spirit, gifts of Grace. So when you sense a question of “how long? Whelming within you, know that the Lord may be answering your prayer for growth with a trial of faith. Know that even in your waiting, confusion, and suffering there is learning, growing, and healing. Ask the Lord for growth, and allow Him to answer that prayer in surprising ways. May we not be “carried away” by lawlessness and “lose our stability” as Peter warns, but may we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen
