God Is Not Late Even When We Are Tired of Waiting

God feels silent right around the moment you need Him to move. That gap between what we pray and what we see can stretch faith to the breaking point, and it can also tempt us to ask the same question Peter heard in the first century: “Where is this coming He has promised?” We sit with that tension honestly and then anchor it in Scripture, because hope needs more than hype when life gets heavy.

We read and reflect on 2 Peter 3, where Peter urges believers toward “wholesome thinking” while scoffers mock the promise of Jesus’ return. The passage reframes delay as mercy: God is not slow, He is patient, not wanting anyone to perish. We talk about how that perspective changes the way we handle pressure, persecution, financial strain, deadlines, and the inner swirl of anxiety, fear, and doubt. We also name a hard truth: feelings are real, but they are not always accurate, which is why God’s written Word becomes a lifeline when you cannot feel His presence.

From there, we lean into what the early church modeled so well: encouragement, exhortation, and steady love inside community. Waiting is not empty time; it can grow obedience, kindness, gentleness, and endurance, shaping us to become more like Jesus while we look forward to God’s promises. If you’re wrestling with God’s timing or feeling worn out by unanswered prayers, come listen, share this with a friend who needs strength, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

Transcript

Patience When God Feels Slow

SPEAKER_01 0:30

There's an old Greek proverb that can be interpreted in English as saying this. The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine. In other words, there's something about having patience in the face of God's word being fulfilled sometimes. Because there are times when it seems like it takes forever for God to fulfill one of his promises. But the fact of the matter is, God is not a man that he should lie. Everything, everything, everything that God has spoken and has said that he has said will come to pass, it's going to take place, even if it seems like it's taking forever. In fact, Peter, the disciple, who was later turned into an apostle, in fact, the chief apostle, wrote to a group of people in the first century AD a word of encouragement, because, and we found this to be true that in our research, in looking into the early church, one of the primary things we found for the purpose of the early believers getting together and gathering together in home groups more often than in large gatherings. Their purpose was to encourage and exhort one another. They would spend a lot of time encouraging each other because they were living at times in very hostile situations where they were literally being persecuted for their beliefs, sometimes tortured, sometimes killed. And so they would take time and encourage one another in face of some very significant negative odds. And there were other times in which, you know, they admittedly, and I must say, myself personally as well, that there are times in which I'm learning to cooperate with God. I'm learning to cooperate with another life form. And there are times in which that can be a personal challenge. And so Peter was addressing a group of people that were facing some of these challenges, and he provides some encouragement that is relevant for us today, and hopefully, something that you'll be able to draw from in hearing the written word of God today will encourage you. It will be something to strengthen you because we all need it, and sometimes we need it because it seems like things take forever to happen, because we live in the realm of time and space. But anyway, Peter, in his letter to this group of people, in the third chapter, he's kind of wrapping up his letter by saying, Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I've written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets, and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say Where is this coming he has promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation. But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the time the word the present heavens and earth are reserved excuse me, he says by the same word, by the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends, with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be short excuse me, since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. The day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise, we are looking to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. So Peter was encouraging these individuals because they were facing some people that were scoffing, openly scoffing at the fact that they were talking about the soon appearing of the Lord Jesus, his second coming. Because they in the first century were anticipating his soon return. And some of the people around were saying, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we've heard that, we've been hearing that for a long time. Just like some of us have people around us that will be saying or have said similar things because we are living in a time in which there is a lot of turmoil going on, and when that takes place, people start expressing different thoughts because they feel the pressure of what's going on, but also some individuals are becoming disillusioned. How do I know? I'm talking to some people who are questioning whether or not God is even real because they just are getting tired of not seeing his promises fulfilled because they're not happening when they want them to happen, or they haven't happened yet, and they've lost or are losing heart. That is an unfortunate situation to find yourself in, because the world of and by itself is challenging enough to live in without having trust, without having faith, without having belief in God. Quite frankly, I don't know how people survive without having a relationship with the Heavenly Father. I know for a fact I could not survive without having that relationship, even when things are challenging, and it looks as though God is nowhere to be found.

SPEAKER_00 10:37

And the reality is He is actually closer than we even realize.

Trust Beyond Feelings And Anxiety

How Waiting Builds Obedience

SPEAKER_01 10:50

When we have relationship with God, He comes to dwell within us as well as to come upon us and empower us. But at times, He quietly lives within us to walk us through things and giving us the opportunity to make choices based upon what He has spoken to us in the past. And we are able to prove the fact that we trust Him, that we believe in Him, by virtue of us maintaining our focus upon Him and acknowledging the fact that He is God and He is good and He is trustworthy, even when it seems like things are being delayed. In fact, the delay can actually prove to be a good thing because during the time in which that delay is taking place, it's an opportunity for us to grow in our faith by simple acts of obedience for us to demonstrate acts of kindness and to encourage one another. In the midst of us waiting upon the Lord to fulfill his promises in our lives, we have the opportunity to excuse me, we have the opportunity to encourage one another and to demonstrate kindness, meekness, gentleness, forbearance, long suffering, as well as again, encouragement and exhortation, building one another up so that we can continue to move forward and not faint and not lose heart and not fall into the trap of unbelief. Just because things are seemingly slow, as we would consider things slow, it doesn't mean that in the economy of God he has forgotten his promises. He has not forgotten, and he was not leading you on. God is not a man that he should lie. He is faithful and he is true, he is trustworthy, and we can count on him to continue to provide for us the strength and the ability to walk in the spirit as we rely upon his presence being in us, giving us internal strength, even when we can't feel his presence or hear his word. Fortunately, it's at that point in time we have his written word, because our feelings are not always going to be accurate. Sometimes they're going to be misleading because we experience things on different levels when certain things come our way, and as a result, it affects the way that we feel. And sometimes things don't feel good, and sometimes they actually feel very negative when we're being pressured from external voices, pressured by deadlines, financial issues that seem like they are not going to be dealt with at the right time. And so we get the feelings of anxiety, of fear, of doubt, questioning God and questioning ourselves. And those are real feelings in the midst of what seems like God being either uncaring about the delay or unaware of the fact that we are hurting because we're exercising our patience. That's actually a good thing, because we're growing. And as we grow, we secure for ourselves a better resurrection. Hallelujah. There are rewards for us going through things and being faithful and being obedient, especially when it seems as though God is slow in fulfilling his promises.

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God considers the fact that earth has challenges within it.

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He is well aware of the fact that earth is not an easy place to live at times. That's why the reward for us overcoming is going to be so significant, it's going to far outweigh the experiences that have been challenging while we've been alive on earth. But that doesn't take away the fact that there are pressures that come in the process of us growing. But in the end, God is going to be proven to be faithful, trustworthy, and on time. We are not experiencing something from God that is uncaring.

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He's actually causing us or helping us grow and develop into becoming more and more like Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 18:13

And so I thank God for those of you who have taken it upon yourselves to pray for us at Life From the Fire. We really thank you for that, and we need that. We need your encouragement. Because like yourselves, at times we face pressures that are very real and very difficult. But through God's faithfulness and through our love and care for one another, we can encourage one another and make the journey an easier journey to go through instead of one that's more difficult. That's the purpose for us. Be a body that has one head, one heart, one faith, one baptism, where we are one, even as Jesus and the Father are one. Because we need God and we need one another.

Strength In Community And Unity

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And thankfully, we are in covenant relationship with a loving God, and we are part of a loving body of Christ.

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So in the midst of us waiting at times, and right now in these days, when we're hearing about this massive move of God that is unprecedented, nothing like we've ever seen before, and we've been hearing that for decades now. And sometimes it's easy to say, Well, where is it? And actually to be frustrated and tempted to believe that that's just a fantasy, that's just talk. Well, it's not, and the reality of God fulfilling his promises and manifesting his presence is going to be a reality that will absolutely cause every tear to be wiped away from our eyes because of the greatness of God's glory and how he surpasses our expectations and he exceeds our understanding and proves to us that he is greater than anything we can express. He is unlike anyone else. He is God, and he is worthy of our affection, and he is worthy of our trust.

Prayer And How To Reach Us

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He is trustworthy. Let's pray. Father, thank you once again for who you are and for what you're doing and how you're doing it.

SPEAKER_01 21:48

Holy Spirit, I ask that you would take these words that have been spoken and you'd broadcast them across the nations, and that it would provide encouragement and exhortation for those who are feeling stretched and weary. That there would be a word that would provide that encouragement necessary to keep focus on Jesus and to become more and more like Him. Holy Spirit, that's our prayer. And we stand here in the name of Jesus and we say in his name, Amen, Amen, Amen. Amen. All right, folks, we love you. And if you have any thoughts, questions, concerns, please feel free to drop us a line at lifereonheire at gmail.com. That's our email address. Or you can type in LifeRon the Fire and look us up on the web. We would love to hear from you in the meantime. God bless you. Adios, amigos.