The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9
I was recently in a discussion with a guy who rejects Christianity because of the problem of suffering in the world and God can't be a good God and all powerful God at the same time to allow this to happen. I've dealt with this in a blog in detail previously, ( https://thoughtsfromtherightbrain.blogspot.com/2016/06/apologetics-week-2-i-cant-worship-god.html)
but I was thinking of it again as I looked at this verse. If God wants all people to be saved and He's all powerful, why doesn't He make it happen? The reason has to be that He doesn't want to violate people's free will. He doesn't want to make people choose Him because they have to. God, though all-powerful allows people to go to Hell even though He could stop it, in order to let them have free will. I was recently watching a show called Foundation where Brother Day, the leader of the Empire, falls in love and leaves everything, even fakes his death, to be with a woman who he has been spending time with. When he finally finds her, she doesn't want him, in fact she is with another woman and states that she was only with him because she was forced to be and was scared of him. Brother Day is devastated at this news and crushed. Like art imitating reality, God wants our chosen love, not forced love.
Relating this to the previously mentioned problem of suffering, God could stop all suffering and get rid of all evil in the world, but then He'd have to get rid of you (and me). He would have to step in and violate the free will of people to make choices and He has decided not to do this.
My other thought on this verse is what led me to leave the Presbyterian church. The Westminster Confession states, God's sovereign decree actively predestines some individuals to eternal life and others to everlasting death. This is explicitly stated in Chapter III, Section 3, which declares that for the manifestation of His glory, God predestined some men and angels to eternal life and others to everlasting death. How can this be possible if He desires everyone to be saved and not perish, in fact He is delaying His return because of it. If He has chosen certain people to spend eternity in hell and has created them for that reason, how could He desire everyone to be saved and why would He delay His coming knowing that they can't even choose to be saved. It makes no sense.
God is so "into" free will that He put a tree in the garden, knowing that giving mankind a choice would cost His only Son's life on a cross. He values free will that much that He allows all the suffering we see today. He wants you to choose to love Him and follow Him and find everything you've been looking for - even Heaven. The choice is yours.
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