God's promise to us

2 Peter 3:9 (NLT)
9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

The apostles tells us that God will carry out the promises He has made, maybe not in our perception of time, but in God’s perfect timing. God waits for the right opportunities in our life to bring about repentance and a change of heart; for God’s desire is for all to repent of their sins and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior that they may be saved.

 

 

I walked out of my office one morning, and a guy I had never met was just getting off the elevator. He was about six foot four, at least 250 pounds, and he wore cut-off jeans and a sweatshirt. His body was all tatted up …. We talked down the hall together, and he told me he was going to his first ministry meeting, and he was really nervous.

[I asked], "Nervous? How come you're nervous?"

"Pastor Miles, you always encourage us to do something, so I figured I got to do something. I want to serve the Lord."

Since our church has over a hundred outreach ministries, I asked him, "What's the ministry you're joining?"

"The knitting ministry," he said.

He added, "Well, actually, I don't knit, I crochet."

Here's this huge guy who looks like he could be an NFL tackle, and he's nervous about joining a ministry that makes blankets and hats for hospitalized children.

Curious, I asked him where he learned how to crochet.

"I was in the Hell's Angels for 12 years," he told me. "I learned to crochet in prison. I know it's the one thing I can do for the Lord."

Just then the lady who heads up the knitting ministry walked toward us, said a quick hi to me, then asked the former Hell's Angels, "Are you Jim?" She gave him a big grin and took his hand. I watched them go down the hall together. It may not seem like a unique ability to crochet, but when you package that with his life, the ripple effect can push countless others out of their comfort zone to step up and stand out the way God designed them to. Imagine if Jim was worrying about what others would think about him crocheting for Jesus. [Miles McPherson, God in the Mirror (Baker Books, 2013), pp. 51-51]

 

In this story we find that God took a 6’4”, 250lb man named Jim who had been in the Hell’s Angels and even served time in prison to become a man who could minister to hospitalized children. God promises a change if we have faith in Jesus Christ and walk along with Him in fellowship.  Revelation 21:4 tells us, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” That is God's promise to us.