Sometimes, adversity is an opportunity in disguise … no, let me be more specific. Sometimes, adversity is a God-opportunity in disguise. And whilst we want to get it over and done with, God slows things down.

You’ve been there, right? You’re going through a patch you’d rather not be going through. You pray fervently for God to be done with it, but this rough patch turns into an extended wilderness tour that really makes no sense.

Such was the plight of the Christians that the Apostle Peter was writing to back in the day. They were being horribly persecuted in every way. Back then, they were believing that Jesus would be coming back like … next Thursday, to rescue them. So this is what the Holy Spirit speaks to them, through Peter:

2 Peter 3:8,9 But don’t forget this one thing, dear friends: To the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord is not being slow in doing what he promised—the way some people understand slowness. But God is being patient with you. He doesn’t want anyone to be lost. He wants everyone to change their ways and stop sinning.

And here we are, a couple of thousand years on, still waiting for Jesus to return – not because God’s slow, but because He wants to give people every opportunity to change their ways, to spend eternity with Him.

Sometimes God slows things down (or at least, that’s how it feels from where we sit) because He has a greater purpose. Sometimes that greater purpose is about us – other times, it’s about someone else. Either way, trust Him. His timing is always perfect.

That’s His Word.