The "Instant" Society or The Woes of Waiting

Rom 15:5

 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus

                Oh, the woes of waiting and wanting! We are an "instant" wanting society. We, at least in America, have 'fast' food, 'insta'-grams, drive up windows for numerous things, and 'speedy' print services. For our vehicles, there are 'Jiffy' Lube oil changes and Fast-Fix tire repair kits. There are 'fast' check-out lanes in stores and ATM's to get 'fast' money. Here in Chad, I normally get up and have my morning devotions while sipping on a cup of 'instant' coffee. Sometimes after devotions, Carol and I will have 'instant' oatmeal (although the name is deceiving here). The other day, following my devotions and breakfast, I got on the computer and was dismayed at how long Windows  took to start up. Once it was up and running I wanted to check my email and, yes, even Facebook. In America, the norm is a 'high speed' network. In Chad, it is not quite the same. I tried repeatedly to open a page to see some posts of grand-kids and other things. Over and over again the network just failed to respond. I grew more and more irritated as the frustrating scenario continued. Finally I was able to receive my emails, but I never did see the things that interested me most and ultimately gave up trying. It just wasn't fast enough to keep me interested.

                Funny, how the Lord speaks to you sometimes. That morning, I began a study of the Book of Malachi for my devotions. Firstly, I read through the entire book to refresh my memory of it and its context. Secondly, I began perusing through all the questions asked in the book. In verse 2:17, the question God said the Israelites would ask is, "Wherein have we wearied him?" Another question God said the Israelites had in their hearts is, "What profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?" Their attitude was, since they had seen 'the proud happy' and 'they that work wickedness set up' and saw that 'they that tempt God are even delivered', that there was no difference between believing and not believing.

                The Book of Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament. There are dire warnings contained in the book. But there are also reasons given for the warnings. Throughout the book are listed 32 sins of the Israelites—reasons God gives for the warnings. Reasons God gives for saying, in verse 2:17, "Ye have wearied the LORD with your words."  If you study and look at the list, you'll see it is just as contemporary today as it was in Malachi's day. Then, the thought came to me....,"Wow, God sure has been patient with us." When you read the Old Testament and the history of God's children, you see the constant back and forth of following and falling away. Correlating with those were the blessings of God, and the chastisements of God. When things were good, they were really good, But, when God chastised his children, things were really bad. All of this chastisement was for one thing—to bring them back to a relationship with Him so he could bestow more blessings upon them.

                God was patient with the Hebrews and Israel, and through the ages offered opportunity after opportunity to return to Him and keep the faith. He gave them, and us, the Book of Malachi as an admonition followed by a span of 400 years of silence, not speaking to us in any way, patiently waiting for us to follow Him. We failed miserably as we often do.

Thankfully, God has always had a plan because he knows our failings. After the 400 years of silence He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Savior if we will only acknowledge our sin, ask for forgiveness, and ask Christ to be our Lord and Savior. If we do that, the blessings will flow to us without bounds. But, you ask, "What about those unbelieving wicked and proud that still prosper?" and "What about those that do believe but have tragedy and trials in their lives?"

                Yes, there are those, but that is where our patience comes into play. Of the 46 times the words patient, patience, and patiently are used in the Bible, 43 are referring to our patience rather than God's. He tells us over and over to rest in patience,  to have patient continuance, to be patient with others. A large number of these passages also speak about tribulation and trials in our lives which, by the way, God tells us we will have. Some may be due to his chastisement of us for some sin, trying to bring us back to Him. Some may be for no reason we could perceive as was the case with Job. Some may be from God allowing Satan to buffet us in that same way. I'm convinced that one of the trials in the lives of believers is watching the ungodly prosper and wondering why He allows it. He tells us, though, to wait patiently because the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up.

               

                Another thing I'm convinced of is that people, in general, want 'instant' benefits for faith in God. There are benefits, to be sure, but God never said they would come instantaneously. He promises mostly that they will be commensurate with expressions of our love for Him. That is what the Book of Malachi was all about. The people did not have the faith and patience to do what God asked of them in order to receive His blessings, so they disavowed His value in their lives placing the blame for their troubles on Him. Romans 15:3-4 says,  For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Hope and its relationship to patience is described in Romans 5:2-5: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only [so], but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

               

                The Holy Spirit is the key. We are told the scriptures were written for our learning and that through patience and comfort of the scriptures we can have hope. This means we need to be in the scriptures, learning them and learning about God in order to understand the hope we have in Him and His Son; to learn about the kind of hope that can carry us through the trials and tribulations even though we may be suffering while we see others prosper. The Holy Spirit is the key because the Word tells us  in 1Corinthians 2:14, But the natural man (unsaved man) receiveth not the things (that were written for our learning) of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned. (*inserts mine) How do you get the Holy Spirit? Only by accepting God's gift of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.

                Are you blaming God for your troubles? Maybe it's because you don't really have the Holy Spirit and He is working to bring you to Christ. Are you reading the scriptures and not seeing the value? Again, maybe you don't really have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you. Are you a Christian and wondering why your life is not as you would like? Maybe you're not patiently trying to learn what he has written to us for our comfort. That hope and comfort comes instantaneously in one sense, and in another it comes very slowly. Instantaneously when we recognize we're sinners needing salvation that comes only through Christ. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are instantly and forever indwelled with the Holy Ghost, sealed to redemption from the eternal penalties of sin. It comes slowly in that we must constantly be seeking to strengthen our understanding of and fellowship with God. This comes, primarily, through reading and studying the scriptures. Are you looking for instant gratification in this life? Are you unwilling to have the patience to put time into knowing God, even though he has spent eons considering your life? It's very likely, then, that your life will continue as it has. If you are willing to seek Him and have patient continuance, there is a promise for you. It is  Revelation 3:10-11, Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.