Immediate gratification is the hallmark of our society. From instant information, overnight shipping, uber-eats delivery, diets, fitness, FaceTime, to YouTube, virtually any product we desire is at our fingertips. We can know anything in microseconds. It’s an incredible age. So it goes that because of all this, we tend to expect the same response of God, as if He is a Google search.
Google is incredibly fast. It has become so interwoven into our daily lives that honestly, most of us would not know what to do without it. Need to figure out a pressing computer problem? Google it. Bam. Answer. Car is acting weird or you need to know how to change that headlight? Google it. Bam. YouTube video. Can’t remember what song you just heard? Google the lyric. Bam. Metrolyrics and YouTube. It’s how we roll these days. So much so that if you happen to ask someone a question, you might get a scornful, “Hello, you have Google. Why you asking me?” Truth is, we don’t have to know things or even retain them because there is this massive repository of knowledge and information at our command. I read that Google can return 3.44 million results in a about a quarter of a second. When you think about what went into that, it is pretty staggering. Google had to “accept your query, parse it, figure out the word order, look up the information in its database, personalize your results by taking into account what it knows about you (which is A LOT), rank the results, ad send the result back to your browser (Source).” Because of that, we are now accustomed to having information within a second. When we dont get a response, we growl at our phones or whine impatiently at the computer, “Why is this taking so long!”
So it is with our relationships, specifically with the Divine. God exists in a realm beyond our time and space and doesn’t respond or operate the way our culture of instant response often demands. Because of our fast-paced-information-saturated-need-to-know-and-have-now-instant society, we quite literally practice impatience. You know how is when you text someone and they don’t respond for a few minutes, or (gasp) even worse, a whole day! Suddenly your emotions are all out of joint and your mind creates ridiculous scenarios as to what is going on. And then they respond with, “Oh yeah, sorry, didn’t have my phone on me.” [Did you know that one of the biggest causes of anxiety today for millennials is phone-related.] So the change in society to the demands of this barrage of communication and expected response might make the idea of talking to God seem ridiculous. Most times, we either throw up quick prayers of desperation or need in urgent situations, or we actually quiet ourselves and pray. Because God is not bound to our time or level of urgency nor does He respond audibly (most of the time), our culture can quickly dismiss the concept of “waiting for a response from the Lord” as archaic or silly and probably a waste of time.
How then in this age of instant, do we communicate with the Divine? And when we do, how do we know that it is even Him when we get a response? I think there is something to be said for waiting. For slowing down. For centering yourself. For meditation, reflection. Getting into a place where you breathe and begin to listen. When you read the scriptures and begin to pray and meditate about what you are reading — I mean really start breaking down the words and phrases — and when things start to come alive and you start pairing those concepts and stories to what your heart is feeling and what your mind is praying for; it’s incredible how you can receive such illumination [and even revelation] that directly correlates with the questions you are asking or situations you are facing. The truth is that the reality of instant is fostering impatience in all of us as a culture. We all know that anything that is beautiful and intricate — art, sculpture, song, architecture, a good book — took time to create; sometimes years or sometimes even a lifetime. In the scriptures, we read the Noah story and how many years he labored building a giant ark. We read how Moses waited for 40 years in the wilderness before being called into a leadership role. Some of the stories are about people who never even saw the results of their lives of faith, yet they chose to endure (Hebrews 11). They were in communication with the Divine in ways that we struggle with today because of the distraction of … well, everything. It reminds me of the story in I Kings 19 where Elijah the prophet stood at the edge of a cave and witnessed a massive windstorm and a dramatic earth shaking followed by the sound of a gentle wind; and it was in the sound of the whispering wind that He heard the quiet voice of God. Not in the big show of thunder and lightning. Not in the moving and shaking. In that peaceful moment of quiet. That is a picture of how God wants to speak to me. Where the distractions are minimized. Where I quiet down my busy mind and seek out the truths, like hidden treasure (Proverbs 2:4).
God does not always choose to respond immediately. And that’s hard for me. Inside, I naturally want to do what is right and make wise decisions. Yet so many times, I have gotten ahead of God because of my own “make it happen right now” mentality. I have chosen to not wait and I wonder if I might have missed out on some cool blessings because of my own impatience. More than once I have said the words about foolish decisions (like going into debt for a vehicle that I really couldn’t afford) “God, if you want me to have this Jeep, then the bank will approve the loan and I will take that as an open door that you want me to have it.” Yeahhhh…. No. That’s not how it works. God has given us wisdom — in fact, the book of Proverbs alone is an incredible resource of common sense, practical thinking. We often have men and women in our lives with years of experience (in both good and bad decisions) that we can ask for advice. We have mentors, teachers, bosses, and the stories of people throughout history who have walked roads and made choices from which we can learn valuable lessons. So when I don’t “hear from God” as quickly as I want to or believe that I should, I think it is a good idea to press pause. Take some time. Pray. Meditate. Talk to some people who you trust. And sometimes your answer will come in unexpected ways.
In the case of that Jeep that I couldn’t really afford but I realllly wanted… well, I went to the bank (a guy I knew was the manager) to apply for the loan.
BANKER: “Yes, it’s pretty tight, but you can do it, and we will approve the loan, but the interest rate will be higher because of your debt-income ratio.”
ME: “Awesome! This MUST be of God!”
BANKER: “Ok, I never do this, but even though we approved the loan, I just want to tell you that I don’t think you should do this. I know you are a Christian, and I am feeling that this is not the season for you to go into this much debt. Why don’t you give it a day and pray about it.”
ME: “Uhhhh ok. Thanks.”
So I go to another bank. You know, because I was irritated because I really wanted this Jeep. I just chose one at random and went in.
BANKER 2: “Yes we can do the loan. No problem. Your debt-income ratio isn’t great but you have a good job so if you are careful you can pull it off.”
ME: “Yes! Confirmation!”
BANKER 2: “I don’t know you at all, and this goes against what I do as a banker — you know, giving out loans — but I am feeling that this is not the time for you to do this. If I were you, I would really take a few days and think about this.”
ME: “Seriously?!”
Needless to say, that caught my attention, and I am grateful to both of those men for telling me truth because it was shortly after that I left Grace and moved to Voice, where I had no income for a while. So even though I thought that “God was opening a door,” (He wasn’t, that was all me), God was actually using two men to speak some wisdom to me about what I needed to do.
Wow, I went off on a bit of a tangent there, but to bring it all back to the beginning, we want the instant. We want the immediate breakthrough — those ah-ha moments of enlightenment. David Perkins, a research professor at Harvard said, “If you look historically at breakthroughs, the story is never just about the key insight. It’s also about what led up to it and what followed it.” That’s called process. That takes time. In fact, our character is formed though the process. I was talking to my friend Deanna about this idea a few months ago, and she said, “Part of what I am processing is that we have been waiting for breakthrough for many years. But I am understanding that the process, the formation of our character into Christ-likeness, into humility, purity, and love are so important to the Father. It’s that inner transformation.” Refining takes time. Creation takes time. How many pots and vases are sculpted and reformed again and again until it is right? My demand for instant change or instant answers bypasses the essential part of life — the daily living in steady forward motion, enduring trials and tests, experiencing joys and sorrows, being formed and reformed, like Deanna was saying. Thus my communication with the Divine is constant. When I cultivate a level of communication where I am always conversing — not just when I’m hurting or in urgent situations — then I begin to understand the voice of God as it speaks to me in my inner-man; as others speak His truth to me; as I read the pages of scriptures and writings of others who have walked roads before me and with me; and as I walk the trails in the quiet woods and stand on the shores of Lake Michigan.
God’s not Google. He’s far beyond that. His algorithm is much more complex and his perspective is infinite. Yet He is speaking all the time. It’s all around me. He’s all around me. I am learning to slow down, breathe… and really listen.
Footnotes: Two very interesting resources I used were about Google Results and The Power of Slow.
Wow Josh, I think this is a unique perspective. I really began to think about this subject when I read “The Tyranny of the Urgent,” by Charles Hummel and “Thoughts for Young Men,” by J.C. Ryle.
I love what you said about Elijah and how God speaks in the stillness, when we incline our ears. I think there is another side to this subject as well though. Sometimes we wait and wait, especially as young people; we want to find out our purpose and know what to do. I think we ought to pray about that and take time to think and get discernment from mentors, like you mentioned.
But sometimes people wait to know the will of God for their life when it’s already been written and spoken. Through the bible God made it clear to us how we ought to live, and we should act accordingly. I think He gives us unique gifts and functions in church and society.
So my point is, taking time and slowing down to pray is essential. We especially need to check the bible and see what God has to say about it through the prophets and apostles. But this needs to lead to action, and we cannot sit around, so to speak, and waste our lives wondering what we ought to do.
I heard a story once from a pastor who spoke about his youthful aspirations and waiting on God in the process. He said he was so convicted about waiting to hear audibly from God that he totally missed all the authentically unique situations, and people, God brought His way.
He said that He believes God wants us to discern His will by testing opportunities biblically, reasonably, and through prayer.
Imagine seeing someome dying in front of you and you don’t help because you are waiting to hear if you
should. That’s why knowing the will and heart of God is important. We need to test everything by scripture, prayer, and discernment.
The reality is there is a dying world all around us swallowed up by constant desire for instant gratification of the flesh. Are we going to find ourselves, as ones who ought to be set apart, caught up in that? Or will we pause, to pray to think and to act on what God wants? That’s how we can change the atmosphere, through a love that is set apart: it’s a love that takes time. And I believe that love is finding rest, desire, and satisfaction in God. Then we can be a light to the world., then we can be Christ like.