NOTES for Pe2 3:9

The context of this sentence of the apostle Peter is understandable: it is about the Second Advent of Christ, of which the first Christians waited literally from day to day. Jesus promised to return, and it was evident for the Christians that His return is happiness, that is what they wished all their heart. And it was sometimes incomprehensible for them, why this promise doesn’t come true, why the Lord slacks; has He changed His mind? Maybe, He doesn’t want to come? Peter explains that it is not slackness, and that the Lord hasn’t changed His mind. It is just that His purpose is not to come, but to save. That is why He exercises patience, complying with the rhythm of the changes taking place in people. It is not Him Who slacks, but we that slack, - we slack with our personal conversion and with our help towards other people for their coming to repentance.

But we can examine this verse and in a wider context. We always have requests for God; we pray for our problems and sometimes don’t see the answer to our prayers. And we are perplexed, why is God silent, why He slacks to fulfill our requests. Perhaps, it is not once again God's slackness, but His longsuffering. He waits with patience, when we shall ask not for what we want for ourselves, but rather for what He wants from us. He wants the answer to our prayer to be really good - good for us and for all those He loves. Somebody said once upon a time that when we pray for fear wind, we should remember that it will be dead-wind for someone else. God doesn’t slack with the answer to our prayers, but it is we that slack with the answer to His appeal to love us one another.