Speed Kills

                “It’s my money and I want it NOW!” We’ve all heard that line from the J.G. Wentworth company, which panders to one of the basest desires of our current culture, the near unshakable believe that we somehow deserve what we want immediately. This seemingly bedrock belief assails us at all times. Even as I type this looking out over the serene mountains of New Mexico, I chafe at the sluggishness of my computer as it spools up. The lack of WIFI slows the process significantly as my laptop spends fruitless moments searching for a nonexistent network. Eventually, it gives up, assumes some sort of IT Armageddon, and lets me set about the task of writing. Meanwhile, I drum my fingers impatiently, missing out on the opportunity to peacefully revel in God’s splendid handiwork. Sadly, I’ve succumbed to our cultural lie about the inherent goodness of speed and connectivity.

                Our modern culture tells us that we should enjoy whatever we want whenever we want it. We assume that rapid progression equates to rapid pleasure. I see it in the vast, and growing, array of easily microwaveable dinners, complete with entre, vegetable side, starch side, and some sort of desert. If I do not desire to take the time to zap something in the micro, I can just swing into a local drive through and pick up something without leaving the confines of my truck. The proliferation of streaming services enables me to customize and prioritize my media input to suit my needs, my taste, and my time. Why bother to go to a store when I can download a desired book in a matter of seconds. I see this in my students and the growing urge to shave a year off the high-school experience.

                Some students, and increasingly their parents, assume goodness in skipping a year of high-school and the associated maturation in order to jump into college. They feverishly pour over schedules and take summer school classes, seeking to compress a year of instruction into a few quick class, crossing the stage exhausted, and then plunging into college barely able to engage or thrive in the intensive university education experience. All to what end, to enter the work force a year or two earlier. We’ve forgotten the phrase, “…the fullness of time.” Galatians 4:4

                You see God understands why time must pass. Some things cannot be rushed. Every good cook knows this principal. Right now, in the refrigerator, supper is working; at least the lime, chipotle, and other spices are. Eventually, I’ll take the mix out and throw it on the grill. A delicious supper will emerge from the process. If I were to take it out now and throw it on the grill, it would produce a lessor product. Time is an essential ingredient. God teaches this throughout scripture.

                I remain convinced that He could have pulled through the heavenly drive-through and ordered up a quick batch of universe; however, He took His time (whatever that was) reflected and enjoyed the process. He set Abraham out on a journey without telling him the end point. Imagine doing that with Google maps. He wrestled with Jacob all night. He let His children linger in Egypt for four-hundred years. David endured years on the run waiting, waiting for God to put him on the throne. He trusted God to take care of the situation. He understood the words Paul would pen years later, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness,” II Peter 3:9. God, the creator of time, understands the need for time to pass. And when the time was just right, He sent His son; who endured the growth process normal to all humanity. For reasons, not always entirely clear, God willingly lets time pass.

                And when we fall in step with His ordering, His time-table, His viewpoint, things work much better in our lives. God’s pace is measured. He allows time for growth and maturation. He encourages, though His word and example, time to pause and reflect. To look out over the valley of time and space and consider the good growth. Some things take time, trees for example. But as they unfold, their beauty and grace reflect His handiwork, His plan, and His care. A life walked out at His pace takes on His shape. Oh, there may be those difficult passages, those time in which that goal seems so far away, but we need never fear. Like David, we might endure a period of hardship in which we take refuge in caves, but God’s promise is sure and He will bring it about in His own way and in His own time.