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. Instead 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 done in it will be laid bare.

In preparing for the first week of Advent there was an emphasis on the stark contrast between our condition now (sin and darkness) and the promise of God’s return (joy and light). This week will have more about how we get from one place to the other.

It’s easy to get impatient.

Why doesn’t Christ return and get it over with? Why do we have to keep living in a world of pain?

In fact, this is simply another way of phrasing the common question, “If God is good, why is there sin/misery/injustice in the world?”

This passage from 2 Peter has probably the best answer you’ll ever find–God is delying his intervention until more people take the opportunity to repent.

On his return, those who follow and depend on him as their Lord and savior will find victory; those who have rejected him will receive the destruction they have chosen. Or, as Peter says, “the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.”