The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once. – Albert Einstein

Recently, yesterday as a matter of fact, I was called back to my old job. New business for the company opened this door for me.  I was absolutely thrilled for this opportunity and caught by surprise. I’d only been out of a job for 4 1/2 months, but to me if felt like an eternity.  Days just dragged on. I was bored, frustrated, and stressed most of the time to actually enjoy my time off.

As I quickly settled back into my old routine, got acquainted with my role and co-workers, it seems like only a day has passed. All the agony had somehow faded away and I could not remember it anymore. While I was out walking on my lunch break, I started thinking about 2 Peter 3:8 and the concept of time.

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.

If He is so patient with me, why can’t I be patient with Him??

I stumbled across this article on 2 Peter 3:8 and the statement in bold resonated with me.

The first thing to note that the context has nothing to do with the days of creation. Also, it is not defining a day because it doesn’t say ‘a day is a thousand years’. The correct understanding is derived from the context—the Apostle Peter’s readers should not lose heart because God seems slow at fulfilling His promises because He is patient, and also because He is not bound by time as we are. The text says ‘one day is like [or as] a thousand years’—the word ‘like’ (or ‘as’) shows that it is a figure of speech, called a simile, to teach that God is outside of time (because He is the Creator of time itself).

Then, the thought occurred to me.  Even though it seems as if God is slow in keeping His promises (like giving me a job), He is not slow. He is working it out in His own time, not mine. So what would life be like if we were not bound by time and we would simply trust the One who created it?