Instant Gratification

I went grocery shopping today.  As I walked up and down the aisles, I realized how many food products I purchase are designed to make cooking faster.  There is precooked bacon, frozen meals, and packaged meal kits, all designed to make feeding you and your family faster.

Diet pills flourish because they promise instant results, disregarding the fact that the extra weight did not appear overnight.

We carry cellphones so that we can instantly connect with whomever, however we want.  We have wi-fi devices of various sorts so that we can instantly upload a picture of our vacation or daily lives.

News is available twenty-four hours a day.  You don't have to read a book or go to a movie to find out what the plot points are.  Movies are available on-demand, so we don't have to wait to see them on TV or on DVD.

We live in a culture of instant gratification.  It permeates everything we do, including our spiritual life.   The whole Judgment Day event was about people wanting to know now what God has hidden for later.

I see this in my own life when I want to know what my future holds now, instead of waiting for later.

But God firmly believes in delayed gratification.  He promised to Adam and Eve that he would send a redeemer, and He did - in His own time.  He promised to Abraham and David that He would send a Son who would reign forever, and He did - in His own time.  When Jesus returned to heaven, He promised He would return, and He will - in His own time.

These are the promises I need to remember.  Promises that everything does not happen instantly or upon my whim.  And this may truly be counter-cultural.