The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you. 2 Peter 3:9 (NIV)
What promise is Peter talking about here? God has promised to judge the earth with fire, just as He once judged the earth with water.
You would expect the verse to say, “God is not slow in keeping his promise… He is patient with the unbelieving world.” But that’s not what he says. Instead, he says “God is not slow in keeping his promise… He is patient with you” (3:9).
He’s writing to Christian believers. God is not slow in keeping His promise (of judgment). He is patient with you. Why has Christ not yet come? God held back His judgment long enough to bring you into His kingdom. That’s the love of God for you in Jesus Christ.
It’s not just that God has been patient with you. Peter says “God is patient with you…” (3:9). If one day with the Lord is like a thousand years, then God has indeed been very patient with all of us. Our sins have gone on a long time according to heaven’s clock.
Day by day we cast ourselves on His mercy, trusting the cleansing power of the blood of Christ, and Peter says, “He is patient with you…” Don’t you find it amazing that God does not look down at you and say, “I’m done with him!” or “I’m done with her!”?
Since God has shown you this kind of patience on heaven’s timescale, you can be patient in real time with that unbelieving loved one, or that hard-hearted cynic at the office.
Whom does God want you to show His patience to today?
