Are you praying for something? Are you waiting for an answer? Does it seem like God is taking His time getting to you? Well this is one time when getting His perspective might help your faith.
God’s time frame is a little different than ours, like about a thousand to one… years to days, that is. One day for God is like a thousand years for us (2 Peter 3:8). It’s in this context that Peter is able to point out that “The Lord isn’t really being slow about His promise.” And though I think this perspective on time applies to all God’s promises, in this passage it applies to God’s promise to return – to close out the history book on the earth as we know it. Peter puts it: ” The Lord isn’t really being slow about His promise to return, as some people think. He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so He is giving more time for everyone to repent” (2 Peter 3:9 NLT).
I never grow tired of hearing this about the heart of God. In fact I often check this passage just to make sure it hasn’t changed in translation. But in each new version the truth comes through loud and clear: God is waiting for more people to be saved because He gets no joy out of sending anyone to hell.
Hell is up for discussion today even among those who believe and teach the scriptures, though I find it hard to believe you could have your Bible and not have a hell in it without taking the scissors to it pretty drastically. But outside of that discussion, it is perhaps even more important to know that hell is a place God doesn’t want anyone to have to go to. And so He waits. Therefore count His patience as mercy. “The Lord is waiting so that people have time to be saved” (2 Peter 3:15).
As you go out, look at the world this way. As long as God waits, there is still time, and time is merciful.
John Fischer The Catch 
Yes–I keep praying for my 40 yr old brother to get clean and sober. His name is James. Perhaps if you would pray for him, also, it might SPEED up the process? He is living in his own personal hell right now 😦
E:
We are preparing to serve in New Jersey for Sandy Relief this coming week. We continue praying that many will come to Christ in their state of devestation. I enjoyed reading your catch today, it is true God is waiting on more of His children to come to know Him. Please keep our team in prayer, that our heavenly Father use each one of us and that His love, compassion, mercy and grace radiate through us that more may come to know of Him and be saved!
Matthew 25:41 … “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’ ” Sounds like Hell was never intended for people but for fallen angels?
For the record … since the internet becomes a permanent record … my brevity may have failed me. I am convinced that God’s word does teach that people will be going to Hell. My point was that Jesus’ words here imply that it was a place originally made for fallen angels. They had experienced all of God and then walked away from Him; even fighting against him and trying to hurt Him by hurting what is most dear to Him … us! The context of Matthew 25 is that some people who were trusting in their own goodness as a work to merit heaven were completely wrong. I hear reluctance in God’s judgment here of sending his dear, created humans to a place so distant from Himself, That is where my thoughts went with this word from John F. We can argue about what Hell really is but this reveals something about our Father and His compassion for all. If we are ambassadors with that message then “The Hell Question” becomes irrelevant as less people end up there.
To answer your first three questions: Yes, Yes, Yes. Praying and waiting for my friends and family to come, or return to the Lord is so hard.
K: praying for James. Thanks for posting.
E: The devastation in people’s lives is unbelievable. Praying for you as you reach out to them.
J: I wouldn’t take a chance betting on your supposition. The English translation doesn’t always give the exact meaning that was intended originally, and there are too many other references to compare and contrast and study.
Everyone: thanks for the conversation and prayers for my friends and family.
John, you probably know about the two major “competitors” to the traditional view of hell. There’s universalism, which of course amounts to “there is no hell.” And, there is also conditionalism. Conditionalism says that hell is real, but the punishment is not never-ending conscious torment; God punishes the wicked, then they are destroyed (annihilated). I find it the most consistent with scripture and with both the holiness/justice and mercy of God. A number of scholars have come around to this viewpoint. For any who might want to take a close look at the question, the most exhaustive study I know is probably Edward Fudge’s “The Fire that Consumes.” But that’s a hefty read, both in length and depth. Fudge’s “Hell: A Final Word” is much more accessible (and shorter, and cheaper). Or, there’s “Two Views of Hell,” Fudge’s exchange with Robert Peterson, if you want to seriously consider both sides of the issue. (Each of these is available through Amazon.
I’m not interested in debating anyone about it, but if someone who hasn’t studied the question wants to see if the Bible endorses a “middle road” between the traditional view and universalism, this is a way to accomplish that. I hope it helps.
Thank you. I did not want to get into this discussion at this time, but it is an important one. Thanks for providing some direction.
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