The Apostle Peter says in his New Testament writings that, to the Lord, one day is like one thousand years. Consider how significant this is in light of a close personal relationship with the godhead.
This particular journey in my life is around 13-years old. Using Peter’s math, only a matter of seconds has passed in God’s presence. In the mind of God, I have hardly decided to take this unexpected journey. In my mind, I have the scars to prove that I have been on the journey for quite some time. Using this calculation, Jesus was only away from the Father for a few minutes. In fact, his triumphful return to heaven took place only a couple of days ago.
In the same place in Peter’s writings, he states that God is not slack (King James language—other translations use slow) concerning his promise. He is giving humanity ample time to make the right decision to follow Jesus.
Jesus told the Apostle Paul that he would suffer a great many things in his unexpected journey to the non-Jewish people of the world. The suffering that the apostle endured allowed the non-Jewish population to get it right and follow Jesus.
If anyone had a close personal relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, it was the Apostle Paul. Did you know that in one place in his writings, that he laments his life because of the poor decisions that he makes because of struggles with his fleshly life?
In other words, his spirit wanted to make the right decision, but his fleshly—or carnal attitudes—robbed him of the right decision. In God’s eyes, Paul was just getting started in his journey, while in the apostle’s mind, he had the scars to prove that he had been on the job for many years.
The point to this is not to get too upset with yourself when you stumble and fall along the way. God sees the commitment made by a surrendered heart, not the shortcomings of a sinful nature. While Paul was busy crying out for forgiveness for yet another failure, God was saying, son, I see your heart, all is well. There are times in my life, that I have to motion for a time-out (it is football season) so I can reflect on the fact that I have made a decision to surrender my life to him. I have to calm my turmoil in order to hear papa say, “son, I see your heart, all is well.”
In one place, the Apostle Paul likens this life to that of a soldier with heartaches and hardships. His advice is to learn how to deal with it because it is part of the journey. Jesus tells us in the New Testament books of The Gospels that Christ-followers will have much tribulation, (trials and testing) but to deal with it because he is victorious allowing you to be victorious as well.
Remember, the Father is giving humanity ample time to get it right and decide to follow Jesus.