Scoffers and the Day of the Lord

2 Peter 3:3-4 “First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come scoffing and following their own evil desires.  They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ He promised?  Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”

            Lord, I understand that here You are speaking of the very last days.  There have been scoffers every generation since creation.  We have scoffers in Your church today and they follow their evil desires not believing that their judgment is near.

            Lord, these verses actually made me smile this morning because they reminded me of when I was a child.  With a family of eight of us that all had to fit into a six passenger car, we didn’t take trips very often.  Even though Mom and Dad’s families lived only 2 hours away, for us that was a LONG trip.  We really did not go anywhere but school, church, the grocery store or Laundromat; so when we were told that we were going on a trip, it was a really big deal!
But the time of departure seemed to take forever to arrive (even if it was only a week away)!
After a day or so of waiting, I would wonder if I had misunderstood or if the trip had been canceled or postponed and Mom just forgot to tell me.

            You told us so many millennia ago that You would return for the “Day of the Lord”, and have not yet; so many, like small children who do not yet know  how to trust Your promise for what will happen, think that they either did not understand the promise or that You have just canceled the date and did not tell us.

            I have learned over my walk with You that when You say the word “imminent”, Your meaning is far different than mine.  I have learned that Your “imminent” may not even be in my lifetime, but I fully trust that what You have promised will indeed happen, and that obviously the “Day of the Lord” is far nearer than it was when You first told us about it.

            Help me, Lord, not to become impatient and like a child repeatedly ask, “Is it time yet?” but to simply trust and be ready when it is time.

            Even so, Lord Jesus, quickly come!