What will happen when God’s patience ends? This is an important question. Thankfully, God is patient with us, because He wants all of us to have the chance to repent and be saved. Please watch the Great News video on this page to find out what that means and how you can be saved today.
God is Patient so that All Can be Saved
“The Lord is not slow concerning His promise, as some count slowness. But He is patient with us, because He does not want any to perish, but all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
A Blessed Delay
The verse above tells us that the delay isn’t because He’s ignoring His promise. There’s a reason for the wait — and it’s a good one! God promised to return two thousand years ago – but He hasn’t yet. We might ask, ‘Why?’
Some mockers suggest God won’t ever fulfill His promise, and the Apostle Peter warned us against them:
“Know this first, that there shall come scoffers in the last days who walk after their own lusts, and say, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued as they were since the beginning of the creation” (2 Peter 3:3-4).
God is Patient Because He is Good
God’s Modus Operandi
Fortunately for us, God’s modus operandi is patience. His patience stems from His goodness; we should thank Him for that. The Bible writers assure us it’s not from impotence or neglect. Instead, He has peoples’ best interest at heart; He wants everyone to ‘come to repentance.’
Someday God’s Patience Will End
When God’s Patience Ends
But someday, His patience will end as it has in the past. The following list is representative but not exhaustive:
- It ended when God’s Spirit stopped striving with man, and He sent Noah’s flood (Genesis 6:3):
“God looked on the earth and saw … all flesh had corrupted their way …. So God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh is come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Now I will destroy them with the earth” (Genesis 6:12-13).
- It ended when the Pharaoh of Egypt wouldn’t let God’s people go, and He sent the Ten Plagues and delivered the Jews through the sea (Exodus chapters 4-14).
- It ended when God caused the wilderness generation to wander in the desert for forty years because they wouldn’t enter their Promised Land (Numbers 14:1-35)
Not a Sin
Losing patience isn’t always a sin any more than becoming angry is always a sin. The Apostle Paul said, “Be angry but do not sin” (Ephesians 4:26).
Now Is the Time to Respond to God
Our Responsibility: Respond Now
Salvation is available ‘today,’ but someday, when God’s patience ends, it’ll be too late. God expects people to respond in a reasonable amount of time:
“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of temptation in the wilderness (when the Jews wouldn’t enter the land)” (Hebrews 3:7-8).
We Depend
Jesus lost patience with His disciples when they didn’t learn to depend on Him. When He was apart from His nine disciples (the other three had been with Him when He was transfigured on the mount), they had tried to cast a demon out of a boy, but they had failed.
When Jesus rejoined His disciples, the boy’s father reported to Jesus, saying,
“Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. Wherever it takes hold on him, it dashes him to the ground. And he foams at the mouth and gnashes with his teeth and becomes rigid. And I told Your (nine) disciples so that they would cast it out, but they could not” (Mark 9:17-18).
Jesus’ Rebuke
He (Jesus) answered (addressing His disciples), “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you?” (Mark 9:19).
Our Responsibility: Learn
Jesus had taught them this lesson several times, and by this time, He expected them to learn it. And He held them responsible when they did not. When they asked Jesus why they couldn’t cast the demon out,
“He said to them, “This kind cannot come out except by prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29).
In other words, they could do nothing in their power, they needed to access Jesus’ authority through prayer:
“For without Me (Jesus) you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
Repeated Lessons
How many times have we been in trouble, and how many times did Jesus bring us through when we prayed about it? But then our next crisis arrives, and we wonder how we’ll endure it. At some point, God expects us to learn our lesson and not fail to trust Him in our time of trial.
When Will God’s Patience End?
Summary
God delaying His return is a blessing, an opportunity for scoffers to repent.
God’s patience is a factor of His Goodness.
God’s patience has ended in the past, and it will again.
We’re responsible for learning our lessons and responding.
“Therefore be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Notice how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and is patient …. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is drawing near” (James 5:7-8).
