..."Til the cows come home

“...With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise,...”. 2 Peter 3:8-9

When the phrase ‘til the cows come home is used to describe anything, it means a very long or an indefinite amount of time for something to happen. This analogy comes from the fact cows never get in a hurry and take their own sweet time getting back to the barn.

It can be frustrating to be on someone else’s timetable. Time seems to stand still because all you can do is wait until forward progress can be made. Impatience is a fault many of us have. God however is very patient with us.

In 2 Peter 3, he is talking about the day the Lord will return. He’s trying to impress on us how patient the Lord is because of the unconditional love He has for us. 2 Peter 3:9b says, “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

We hear it all the time, different people claiming they know the exact day the world will cease to exist as we know it but they haven’t been right yet. We won't know when the Lord will return but we do know He will so we must be prepared. Scripture says He will come like a thief in the night and it will be in His perfect timing.

Based on what I gathered from these verses, God loves us ‘til the cows come home. He's slow to return because He is patiently waiting for the hearts of so many to turn back to Him.