Passion. Prayer. Patience. Privilege.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (Second Peter 3:9)

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:17)

In Sunday’s sermon, Pastor Althea shared that God is patient. He waits. And our pastor, speaking as God’s oracle in a nation of impatient people, gave us an important word to remember: The waiting is salvific. God is giving us a chance to get it together.

Oh, how quickly we forget. There was a time when you and I were separated from God by our sin. Our unwillingness to surrender our lives to the One who specializes in forgiveness of sin kept us in a state of wickedness. But, praise God, a day came when our eyes were opened, we realized our deep need for Jesus, and we asked Him to save us.

Perhaps we who are Christians now can tell stories of past days when we were hell-bent on promoting evil, or engaged in aberrant acts, or had hearts full of pride and jealousy-- but Jesus transformed us, and is still transforming us, by the power of His Spirit at work in us.

Shouldn’t we want the world to have that same transformation experience?

Shouldn’t we want our enemies to taste and see that the LORD is good?

Sadly, that’s the scary part of this salvation thing: sometimes, after we get saved, we refuse to extend the patience of God to those who are standing where we once stood. We refuse to labor in prayer for the deliverance of others because, somewhere along the way, we decided that they aren’t worth the effort… or that we don’t like them… or that they’re “too far gone” for even God to reach. And there are plenty of “isms” that fuel the feelings. We may have been victims of racism, ethnocentrism, gender bias, or other systems in which the hurts were so deep that we cast a net of indifference over individuals, communities, and people groups. As for me, though, I’m glad that God found a few people on this planet who prayed for me when other believers thought I was “too far gone.”

Today, do you know of any cases that seem hopeless? Pray. It’s your privilege.

Lord God, our almighty King, we need Your passion and patience. Give us grace to continue bombarding heaven on behalf of those who need salvation and deliverance. This is Advent: You will show up; You will save. Hear us as we pray, and help us as we wait.

Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.