This is the era of instant gratification.
And accordingly the expectation has become that you can get anything you want….instantly.
There is instant text messaging, smart phones with
instant access to the internet anywhere you are, Facebook and Twitter where you
can instantly find out what your friends have been doing today (and what everyone else in the world has been doing as well). There is Netflix, Amazon, ITunes and Google where I can instantly access and watch any movie or TV show that I can imagine at the mere click of a button.
Recently a friend recommended a really great book to me (
OneThousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp). So, right there, I looked it up from my smart phone at the local library,
checked it out via their online ebook library, and had it downloaded to my phone to start reading in less than
5 minutes. (If you are a fan of e-books like I am, and have never used your local library's digital book and audio collection, you are missing out on an incredible free resource!)
I hear a song on the radio
that I like, and I have the Shazam app to listen to it, tell me who is singing
it, and where I can purchase the song.
So, 30 seconds later, I can buy the song and have it ready on my
playlist before I even make it from the car to the front door of the gym.
If I have a question, like what year was You’ve Got Mail
released in theaters? Or what does the
word sesquipedalian mean? In about 30
seconds, I can find out that the movie was released in December 1998 during my
Senior year of High School (which explains why I suddenly feel so old when I
remember what dial up modems were like), and that sesquipedalian pretty much
means long-winded (sometimes I think they should have my picture in there next
to the definition, because I simply cannot explain anything without a LOT of words).
Then, just last week, I was laughing at my dad who would only watch movies available on his TV via Netflix and Vudu because he didn't want to bother with getting up to go to the front room and get the DVD from his collection.
At every turn, we are programmed by media and the internet
to expect that if we want something, or have a question about something, that we can just search for it and almost always have instant success.
But this also means that we expect instant
gratification and get frustrated when something takes longer than we think it
should. And the scary thing, is that this is starting to creep into
our lives in ways that we don’t even realize. We are starting to become disappointed with the world around us when it does not give us the instant gratification we want. Things that are difficult, or take time to accomplish are not nearly as appealing as those with a "quick fix."
I am going to Italy with my parents this summer on a 2 week
vacation, and in preparation I have been trying to learn Italian. I am thrilled with how much progress I have
been making, but I have also put a lot of time into it (probably several hours a week over the past couple of months). I will walk into the kitchen and start
speaking in Italian about what we are eating and what happened that day (I have
to get practice in somewhere right?).
But the look on my dad’s face is so frustrated that he doesn't understand what I am saying. He is
trying to learn as well, but has not put more than an hour or two into learning it.
As another example, just last night, I was talking with some
girls who were expressing their frustration with trying to lose weight. One of the girls started a diet, and 3 days later, she was so frustrated that nothing was happening that she gave up.
We want the “magic” diet pill that will allow us to go from a size 16 to
a size 8 without any of the work, or more critically, the time and intentional life change that it
requires.
And this does not just apply to life goals, and New Year’s
Resolutions. This also applies to our
relationship with God. When we see other
people’s incredible relationships with God, we are tempted to assume that if we do all of
the right things today, then by tomorrow, our relationship with God will look exactly like
theirs does.
What we don’t realize, as readily as previous generations did, is
that growth takes time, and relationship is not something that sprouts up overnight. It doesn't work with people, and it definitely doesn't work with God.
Just think about this. No one expects an oak tree to grow overnight. In fact, after a quick search on the internet to verify the answer, I discovered that it can take 10-15 years for an oak
tree to grow to a reasonable size. And
even then, it takes a great deal of work and care to ensure that it stays
healthy and is protected during these early fragile years.
I often hear friends expressing how frustrated they are
in their spiritual walk, and that they just wish their walk could be just like someone else's. And I am just
as guilty of this. I see someone who can quote
scripture off the top of their head, and am frustrated that I can’t. I have favorite verses that I can’t even
remember the references to. That's right. My FAVORITE verses! And if I can't remember the references to those, then you can imagine how my memory is with the rest of them. I spend a lot of time comparing myself with others rather than taking my focus off of myself, and putting it where it should be: on God.
I rarely take the time to stop and think about how long it takes to
acquire that level of knowledge. Someone does not just wake up one day and instantly have a Bible reference guide installed in their head (even if it might be on installed on their phone). It takes YEARS
of study, focus, and intentionality to even come close to that kind of detailed knowledge about any subject. I guess they are not called spiritual "disciplines" for
nothing. It takes discipline and the intentional formation of habits for any of them to even have a chance of
success in growing your relationship with Jesus.
But even during those times when I am doing all of the things I need to in order to grow, I often will get so frustrated that my end goal is not even remotely in sight, that I give
up. I have been so programmed by the instant gratification that society is teaching, that I am, well, instantly disappointed.
Going back to the example of speaking Italian, I would never expect to
be able to just download the “Italian” program into my brain (like Neo could download Martial Arts to his brain in
the movie The Matrix - although it would be REALLY nice, it is just not reality). But yet, even in that example, I still get frustrated with how long it is taking for me to learn a new language. I want to acquire in a few hours what has taken me years to learn for other languages. As a society today, we rarely give ourselves the time we need to allow the basic steps to
accumulate into a new skill, a desired outcome, or a vibrant relationship with
Jesus Christ.
So, the next time you catch yourself comparing your progress with someone else's, or are simply disappointed in your own progress (in any area of your life, but especially in your spiritual life), stop and ask yourself the following questions:
Did that person (that I am comparing myself to) acquire that skill overnight?
How much do I really want to be able to do that?
What am I willing to give up to achieve it?
Am I really willing to put the time and effort it will take to get to my desired outcome?
What single action can I take immediately (in the next 2 hours) that will take me one small step closer to my desired goal?
Remember that nothing ever gets done tomorrow. Today is all that we have. You cannot change what happened yesterday any more than you can control what will happen tomorrow.
But today, you have the ability to take a step closer to Jesus Christ. No, your relationship with Him will not look dramatically different after just one day. But progress is a positive direction is still progress, regardless of how small. So take the time today to tell Him how your day has been going, and stop long enough to listen to what He has to say in return. Read His words of guidance, encouragement, correction, teaching, and warning. He wants to be in relationship with you, and there is no need to wait until tomorrow for what can be done right now.
