God's Timing vs. Our Instant Gratification

553/3/23Heading in to the weekend, let’s downshift a little. So, I’m talking to a friend last night and he’s telling me about his son who is an exceptional college baseball player and how he’s got himself into a slump at the plate and is struggling. We talked about how this is for sure going to be good for him in the end to work through adversity, something that most young people today don’t understand. For that matter, most adults don’t either. You see, we want what we want and we want it now. I’m here to tell you, that’s not how it works. We’re obsessed with instant gratification. Americans find themselves in debt because they need to have the latest iPhone, television, car, or house by getting loans and credit cards to pay for them. No one wants to save the money to buy anything so companies make it possible to get credit so you can have that product now. College kids get their degrees and want a top-paying job at the top of the executive chain rather than working their way up over time in a company.No matter where we look or what we do, instant gratification is running our lives. And because of this, we find a generation that is immature, rebellious, and feeling entitled to just about everything without working hard to gain what they need or want.But you see, that’s not how God works. He’s not in the instant gratification business. Why? Well, because it doesn’t produce faith and trust in Him. In fact, it doesn’t produce anything of spiritual worth, nor does it produce Godly character.Look, as Christians, we tend to expect instant gratification from the Lord. We pray a handful of times and are mad if our prayer has not been answered. We might be walking a difficult path in our lives and get frustrated when the Lord does not smooth it out quickly. His ways are not our ways. We’ve discussed this a lot. He will answer our prayer, but it’s in His perfect timing and in His perfect way.Waiting is not easy. But God tells us to be persistent in our prayers, believing that He will indeed answer at just the right time.“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”Isaiah 55:8-9 Be Nice, Grace Wins