Instant everything

Popcorn in less than two minutes, 90 seconds or less through a drive thru, guaranteed two day shipping; we have gotten used to INSTANT results. If you don't believe me, how did you react the last time you went to a fast food drive thru and you had to pull into one of those painted waiting areas? YEAH, you probably didn't appreciate that very much. I mean HOW LONG does it take to make a double cheeseburger?!?

So then why should we be surprised when we struggle to be patient? We don't like waiting for much of anything. And by saying this, we are implying that what is happening in our individual lives MUST be the most important thing happening right now in this world.

I am no different! I have always struggled with waiting. When I was a kid and I knew relatives or friends were coming over, I would anxiously wait looking out the window until they arrived. Just imagine your dog waiting for the door for you to come home....yep that was me....but I'm a human....

So what's the problem with not being good at waiting? WELL, it can negative effect on our faith life. God's timing is usually different than our own. So if we struggle at waiting for a large fry, how are we going to respond when we pray to God for something and we don't get an immediate answer? We would probably get discouraged and convince ourselves that God isn't listening or God doesn't care.

But you know what? God is EXACTLY the opposite. Remember that image from two paragraphs ago of me anxiously looking at the window waiting for any sign of the people I knew? Well, that's the way I view God waiting for us to talk to Him. There is even an amazing parable that speaks of this: The Lost Son. It's in Luke 15- My image of God. The basics are the son takes what is his and leaves his family. He wastes all his money and has NOTHING left. He decides to go crawling back to the dad to become one of his servants. But what does the dad do? He has been watching everyday for his son to return home. At the first sight of his son, He RUNS to him. He hugs him. He celebrates his return.

Now imagine God waiting for you to talk with Him. Imagine your prayers being heard by Him. Now imagine God carefully thinking about your prayers and your life and how your life fits in with everyone else. He heard your prayer. God ultimately knows your WHOLE story so God knows what is ultimately best for you. So his answer might not come in 90 seconds, or two minutes, or today, or this year. But God most definitely heard you talking.

Don't ever stop talking to God because you don't think He heard you. Scripture says we should pray continuously (Make it an ongoing conversation).  Sometimes we just need to wait long enough to hear an answer!