The instant society
Immediate results! That’s what our society wants. We have been conditioned in this direction by fast-food restaurants, microwave ovens, instant cereal, instant coffee, television ads that flick from one scene to another and offer instant gratification. There are instant photo-developers, quick cleaners, quick-stop markets, instant cash machines. Sometimes we fidget nervously if the computer program pauses for two seconds when we expect it to instantaneously switch from one function to another. If the phone system takes 11 seconds to put through our long-distance call we are encouraged to transfer to another company with quicker circuitry.
The instant atmosphere has created serious social, economic and moral problems. North American businesses have been hurt because of an overemphasis on short-term profits and a failure to pursue long-term planning. Businessmen take unwarranted risks and many people gamble incessantly, looking for instant wealth. Families burden themselves with crippling debt by purchasing new cars and large homes instead of waiting until they can afford them. The ease of buying on credit encourages everyone to enjoy it now before we pay for furniture or clothing. The result is that by year-end, families waste hundreds of dollars on interest charges. People want instant pleasure so they go for drug-induced euphoria or indulge in promiscuous sex. They don’t want to work at marriages so they look for instant solutions, divorcing one partner and then another.
Expecting Instant Blessings
The instant psychology is so pervasive that we can unwittingly apply it to our expectation of blessings from God. We do the right thing and subconsciously expect very quick blessings in return. If nothing good happens right away, doubts arise. We sacrifice for Christ’s sake; we refuse a promotion on spiritual grounds; we move to be nearer ecclesial activities; we sacrifice time and money in helping others; we terminate a relationship with an unbeliever; we spend a lot of time preaching. And nothing happens!
We don’t suddenly find a new boyfriend in the Truth; our financial conditions do not immediately improve; we notice no difference in our health; people do not become more friendly; a better job does not appear within two months. Nothing changes for the better; in fact, sometimes things get worse.
Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, David
Don’t be surprised! This is the norm, not the exception. Look at Abraham. He responded to the instructions of God with remarkable faith. Leaving the security of Ur, he headed for an unknown land, dwelt as a nomad among unfamiliar people and made no attempt to seek refuge in one of their walled cities. He did it right and had no heir for 25 years. His wife grew past the age of childbearing and still there was no seed.
Consider Jacob. Esau despised godly things. He disdained his birthright; he married idolatrous women; he was a violent, vengeful man. Jacob believed the promises of God and resisted alliances with the world. In seeking a faithful wife, he journeyed far from home. He found her but had to wait seven years to marry her and then was cheated. Even when he finally married his beloved, he faced another seven years of servitude which were followed by six more years of harassment from Laban. Twenty years he served the man with total integrity, only to be forced to flee in the night with family and possessions.
And then consider Joseph. Through no fault of his own, he was sold into Egyptian slavery. There, in the most difficult of circumstances, he held fast to holiness. He refused the advances of Potiphar’s wife. We marvel at his stedfast obedience, but what happened? Not blessing, but years in prison.
The same pattern keeps repeating itself. David had done everything right. Knowing Saul was rejected and that he was the chosen of God, David never attempted to undercut Saul’ s authority. “He hath not sinned against thee, and his works have been to thee-ward very good,” testified Jonathan. (I Sam. 19:4) Yet it was David who was forced to run for his life and spend years fleeing from place to place. Even when he deliberately spared Saul’s life from David’s own men, the pressure did not let up. What had David done to deserve such treatment? Nothing, nothing at all.
Not Easy to Endure
Scripture never portrays this situation as easy to endure. David finally became so discouraged he gave in to dwelling with the Philistines. “And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines…” (I Sam. 27:1)
Abraham lamented that he was childless and his heir was his steward. His despair deepened to the point of substituting Hagar for Sarai. When final assurance came that Isaac would be born, the time had been so long Sarah doubted that it was possible. (Gen. 15:2; 16:1-4; 18:12-14)
Some Things Take Time
Why does a loving Father do this to His faithful children? Because some things take time!
There is no instant way to develop patience, longsuffering, perseverance and faithfulness. We cannot learn patience unless we have occasion to exercise it. We cannot develop longsuffering unless we have suffering that goes for a long time. We will have no occasion to persevere if instant blessing follows every right action. Faith will never deepen unless it must be exercised in the face of discouragement.
A loving Father looks to the longterm good of His children. He empathizes with their difficulties and understands that from their perspective they would like immediate blessings. But He desires that we be with Him forever and He wants us to be qualified to rule the world to come in His name. Rulers of the kingdom will require patience, longsuffering, perseverance and faithfulness. These attributes must be developed now, during the time of our probation. They cannot be developed if instant blessing comes at every turn.
We may live in an instant society, but we are not involved in instant salvation. We are involved in the slow process of developing characters for eternity.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One