As followers of Jesus, we worship a God who is infinite in knowledge, in power, in wisdom and understanding, and especially in his love for us. But when we praise our infinite God, we also need to remember, and to celebrate, those attributes of God that his word tells us are not infinite. The ones that eventually end. One of those finite attributes is God’s patience.
God is patient, both with this fallen world, and with his own children. He is amazingly patient. Peter writes:
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 (2 Peter 3:9).
We celebrate God’s great patience, and rightfully so, because every day God delays judgment is another chance for sinful people to turn to Christ in faith and repentance. But his patience does not last forever. In the very next verse Peter says:
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 (2 Peter 3:10).
Paul writes something similar:
Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed (Romans 2:4-5).
God’s great patience has a limit, and that’s not a bad thing, but a very good one. In our churches we don’t often celebrate God’s judgment, yet in the picture John shows us in Revelation, we see the inhabitants of heaven doing exactly that:
And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. The nations were angry, and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your people who revere your name, both great and small – and for destroying those who destroy the earth” (Revelation 11:16-18).
If God’s patience were infinite, there would be no final judgment. Evil would not be destroyed. In the end, there would be no justice. At the end of God’s patience he acts in wrath, and heaven rejoices because God’s anger brings about God’s justice – it does not work that way with human anger (James 1:19-20)! Like the angels, we too should rejoice whenever we see good triumph over evil, whether that be the partial victories of this age or the final victory when Christ returns.
God’s finite patience gives us hope, but it should also be a warning. To quote economist Herbert Stein, “if something can’t go on forever, it won’t.” That includes this world. Jesus wasn’t kidding when he told his disciples to be ready (Luke 12:35-48). It’s good to ask ourselves from time to time, “am I, right this minute, doing something that I’d be okay with being caught doing at the moment God’s patience finally runs out?” Because, despite what some people on the internet say, none of us has even the slightest idea how much longer it will be. But even if we don’t know when, we do know that eventually God’s patience with evil, with sin, with the rebellion of his creatures will end. We need to be ready.