Promises Delayed but Not Denied
11/14/25 Bible Thought (2 Peter 3)
Delayed promises are not necessarily denied promises—this is especially the case with God.
As the apostle Peter draws his second letter to a close, he gives a warning about future scoffers who will deny the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps this is one reason for the promotion of lawless living from the previous chapter.
“No second coming? Then no judgment day. Perfect!”
Besides, it hadn’t happened for so long, apparently Christ wouldn’t be coming! Things are going the same way they have been since the dawn of creation (2 Pet. 3:4).
Peter anticipated these claims in advance and responded with the cataclysmic upheaval of the flood (2 Pet. 3:6). Things have not always continued on just as they always have. God does act in the world.
Not only does He govern it by His providence and work all things according to the counsel of His will (Eph. 1:11) but at various points He brings about major changes.
The delay is rooted in God’s timetable that is significantly different than ours:
“But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Pet. 3:8-9).
God is outside of time. Time is a feature of this created order that He made.
As such, He preceded time! Therefore, it’s only logical that how He orders things might not exactly follow our expectations as creatures who are bound by time and space and 24-hour days.
Instead, God’s delay is not a denial—it is an act of mercy.
God loved the world so much He sent His Son to die for sinners (Jn. 3:16; Rom. 5:8). Now, each and every day that Christ delays His coming, more people are coming into the Kingdom. Every day a sinner turns to Christ for salvation.
That being said, while we should eagerly anticipate the coming of Christ, let us remember that He is growing His family daily and that we can be part of that mission.
Christ will come, just as He promised. God does not lie (Titus 1:2). There will be a day, where as a thief in the night, totally unpredicted, Christ will come.
The apostle Paul points out that it will be in a moment (1 Cor. 15:52). The Greek word underlying “moment” is atomos, sound familiar? It refers to something that because of smallness cannot be cut, something that is indivisible.[1]
There will be a day when Christ comes again and He comes suddenly. God’s delays are not His denials. Although nearly 2,000 years in the waiting, in the eyes of God it’s only been two days.
He who promised is faithful and one day we will enjoy a new creation in which righteousness dwells (2 Pet. 3:13). In the meantime, we wait, and we wait in hope of a promise-making and promise-keeping God who is worthy of our trust.
A Challenge for Today:
Do God’s delays ever cause me to doubt? How could I use 2 Peter 3:8 to remind myself that God’s timetable is significantly different than mine?
[1] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 149.