How Long?

God promised Abram that his descendants would be a great nation and occupy the promised land. Yet four hundred years later, Israel had not yet entered Canaan. For more than two hundred years, God’s people were in Egypt, and for much of that time were pressed into slavery. Ultimately, God’s people escaped Egypt, but for hundreds of years, the promise of entering a land that flowed with milk and honey was nothing more than a dream. An enslaved Hebrew struggling to find straw to use in the manufacture of bricks may well have wondered whether God’s promise would ever be fulfilled. That Hebrew undoubtedly heard his grandparents tell him that their grandparents lived in the hope of entering the Promised Land. But all those years later, Israel’s prospects seemed bleaker than ever. Although God kept His promise and Israel was liberated from captivity, for generations, the promise made to Abram may have seemed an impossibility. Today, people may be tempted to feel the same way.

An elderly friend told me about a letter he came across, written by his father to his mother during World War II. “I am convinced there is little time left until Jesus returns,” the man wrote, “for I have seen man’s inhumanity to man, and it is great.” The better part of a century later, we are still here on earth and very much not in heaven. But the fact that Jesus has not yet returned does not mean He will never return. Jesus said it was the “evil servant” who said, “My master is delaying his coming” (Matthew 24:48). The waiting time on this side of the second coming of Jesus is, in reality, a manifestation of the mercy and goodness of God. If Jesus had returned a generation ago, not one of today’s younger generation would be saved.

If Jesus returned yesterday, there would be no more tomorrows in which we could share the gospel with others. For now, Jesus waits.

This tarrying time is a time for personal preparation and for sharing Jesus with those who do not yet have the assurance of salvation.

The promise is certain. Let us not lose heart as we wait for Jesus’ return.