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.

— 2 Peter 3:8

A line in a popular song says, “The waiting is the hardest part.” Why is waiting so hard? Waiting can bring anxiety and a feeling of helplessness.

Today, nearly 2,000 years after the apostle Peter wrote about this, we’re still waiting for Jesus’ return, when the Lord will make all things new.

Peter’s readers, Christian exiles suffering hardship, are asking, “How long, Lord, until you come again to make the world right?” And Peter, echoing Jesus’ teachings about his coming judgment (Matthew 24:39, 43), adds an insight about Jesus’ return. Instead of seeing the Lord’s delay as “slowness,” we should see his patience—or, in other words, his grace—for Jesus wants everyone to repent and believe in him.

In the meantime, while we continue to wait for our Lord’s return, we don’t need to live with anxiety or helplessness. Peter encourages us from a posture of eternal security to live holy and godly lives as we look forward to Jesus making all things right.

In the last words we hear from Peter in the Bible, he sums up what it means to wait for Jesus: “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen” (2 Peter 3:18).

Jesus, Lord and Savior, fill us with a deep longing to grow in your grace and in knowing you. To you be all glory now and forever. Amen.