One Thing

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” — 2 Peter 3:8 (NIV)

Billy Crystal is one of my favorite comedians. His filmography is wide and varied, but one scene stands above the rest. In City Slickers, three middle-aged friends head out on a cattle drive searching for meaning. The trail boss, Curly Washburn (played by Jack Palance), holds up one finger and tells Mitch Robbins (Billy Crystal) the secret to life:

“One thing.”

Just one thing.

In his second letter, the apostle Peter has his own “Curly” moment.
“Do not forget this one thing…”

And what is it?

God’s time is not our time. What feels like delay is actually mercy.

The Lord is not slow. He is patient — purposefully patient — not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

And repentance is more than regret. More than behavior modification. It is a Spirit-empowered reorientation of mind and heart — turning from deception and aligning ourselves with God’s revealed reality: His Kingdom. His new creation.

We may not be City Slickers, but we share their longing. We want our lives to count. That quiet ache lives in every soul.

So how do we make our lives count?

Peter says it begins with turning from deception.
What am I believing that isn’t true?

Then comes alignment — day-by-day apprenticeship under Jesus. Or, as I like to say, running the play.

Running the play is shaping a schedule, a set of practices, and relational rhythms that create space to be with Jesus, become like Him, and do what He would do if He were living my life.

Here’s Peter’s one thing for us: God is not stalling. He is saving.

So the real question isn’t, “Why is He waiting?”

It’s, “Am I aligning?”

We are all aligning with something. But there is only one alignment that makes our lives count in this world and the next:

Follow the Invisible Jesus.
One Way — the Way.

Run that play.

🧭 Finding Our Place in the Story

What beliefs about time, delay, or “God not acting fast enough” might be subtly shaping my attitude toward Him right now?

Where in my daily schedule do I see intentional alignment with Jesus — and where am I drifting without noticing?

How can my church community more intentionally help one another align with the patient purposes of God rather than the hurried pace of our culture?