a. The Lord waited so that Noah could be saved.
… In the days of Noah, God waited with long-suffering while Noah prepared the ark in which eight souls were saved from the flood. 1 Peter 3:20
Seeing the wickedness of man and knowing that the imagination of his heart was only evil continually, the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created…” Genesis 6:5,7 (paraphrased)
The LORD said, “My spirit will not always strive with man… yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years…” Genesis 6:3
Most Bible scholars agree that this verse indicates the time God waited to judge the world after He made His decision. God waited 120 years to save eight people.
b. The Lord is now waiting for “all who will” to come to repentance.
…The Lord is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come… 2 Peter 3:9-10
Don’t think God isn’t keeping his promises, because:
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise… 2 Peter 3:9
c. The Lord is protecting his children by waiting.
In the parable of the wheat and tares (weeds), “the tares are the children of the wicked one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil.” Matthew 13:38-39
The servants in the parable asked the landowner (the Son of man), “Do you want us to go and gather them the tares?” But he said, “No; lest while you gather up the tares, you root up the wheat (the children of the kingdom) with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. And in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘First, gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.’” Matthew 13:27-30, 37-38
In this parable, we are the wheat. If God sent his angels to pluck out all the evil. Some of the good would be uprooted. So he allows evil to remain among the good until the harvest.
d. Free Will
Much suffering comes from our own free will.
Adam and Eve - Because of free will, sin entered the world, and we live in a fallen/cursed world. We survive by the sweat of our brow. We age and experience illnesses and death.
Our free will - We have free will, and sometimes we make decisions that lead to our own suffering. What we eat and drink affects our health. Where we go and what we do may put us in dangerous situations that lead to our suffering. Some decisions lead to time in prison.
The free will of others - Choices made by others often affect us. Everyone else has free will also, and sometimes their poor choices affect us and cause our suffering. They may choose to steal our possessions, harm us or kill our someone dear to us.
The free will of organizations - Decisions made by society, governments, companies lead to many deaths and illnesses. For instance,
— Decisions to use certain pesticides, additives and preservatives in the production and preservation of our food can lead to cancer and other illnesses. With good intentions to produce more food and preserve food for longer, we introduce suffering.
— An airplane crash, train wreck or the destruction of a tall building can lead to many deaths in an instant. With good intentions to increase travel and access to the world, we increase suffering.
— The wars of men have caused much suffering.
However, without free will, we can’t CHOSE God. Without choice we are robots programmed to do what’s right. God wants a relationship with us. God wants a relationship with YOU. Without choice there is no relationship. Love is a choice, and we have to choose to love God. But some don’t choose to love God or obey God. They choose evil and with it suffering.
