I Want It Now!

As I sit here this morning I am waiting for my phone to complete downloading a page from the internet. I started almost an hour and 20 minutes ago. Now, admittedly, that really is too long, and this problem has been getting worse, so there is probably a problem with my phone. But I first began to notice it when a page took perhaps 5 seconds instead of the usual 1 or 2. And that got me to thinking about this instant age we live in. I am not the first to notice that contemporary Americans are not particularly patient - we have instant everything, including instant news (which often turns out to be false). But I got to thinking about how we are expecting the same thing in our spiritual lives. We want God to do for us what we have asked immediately, or, if that's not possible, then quickly. And yet it is James who encourages us to add to our list of virtues "patience." There is something about learning to wait that develops our character. It trains us for those times when something just can't happen immediately or quickly. Of course, I am more than happy to learn spiritual patience, it is just all this other stuff, right? I wish we could compartmentalize our lives that way. But God made us whole, and what happens in one part of our lives inevitably affects another. So as I continue to wait for tha webpage to download, perhaps I should thank God for the chance to learn a little more patience - who knows when I may need that discipline? In the meantime, I need to get to the Sprint store and get a new phone - one that works faster!

Pastor Ken