two kinds of slow

"The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)

"Sorry." "It's okay." Much of man's fellowship with God circles around these two words. We repent. God forgives us. But when we do, our respective attitudes are miles apart. So often we manage to pout even while we repent, and to seek forgiveness even while only half believing we need it. We grudgingly admit our sin, all the time aware of the much greater sin of others. We are slow to turn our hearts back to God. God is slow, too, but slow to anger. In forgiving us, God is as swift as lightning and as unstinting as a heavy downpour. Like a lover, His heart is set on making things right with us.