We wait impatiently for a signal to appear on our phone, for a film or website to download - it may even take more than ten seconds! We wait impatiently while our dinner takes two minutes cooking in the microwave or the kettle boils. This is now, more than ever, a society that expects instant results, instant answers on google or for someone to reply to a text or email. No wonder that the nation gets so frustrated by Brexit negotiations, but whether we approve of the decision or not is it not better to spend time sorting it out properly?
And what about our spiritual lives? God is not in a hurry. Firstly, he is very patient with us, his children, who are so slow to learn, but also he wants us to learn about the ways of eternity. In Ecclesiastes we are told that God has ‘set eternity in the hearts of men’ (Ecclesiastes 3:11); in other words we are created to enjoy and experience richer things than a microwave instant culture can provide. Love, peace, truth, joy and justice take time to cultivate and are some of the ingredients of a deep eternal existence that satisfies the soul. ‘I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope’ (Psalm 130:5)
Dave and Cath Johnston