Expecting the Instantaneous

There are so many times in my life when I need or want something. Every day I come up with something new that I want or need, and get very adamant that I most definitely have to have. For example, here are things that I have wanted or needed, just in the last week...

• tattoo
• second ear piercings (I got these)
• belly-button pierced
• new jacket (£10 in H&M sale)
• long-sleeved tops (H&M again)
• more earrings (Accessorize)
• certain boy
• another certain boy
• any boy in general
• answer to where I'm going to uni next year
• lose weight
• children
• chocolate
• new shoes

And I'm sure there's a whole host of other things that I just can't remember right now.

Some of those things I could get my hands on immediately. Like I wanted some more stud earrings because someone has eaten all of mine (or I've lost them, but eating seems more likely) so I just walked up the high street and bought some.

Some things I kind of expected and was hoping that I'd have immediately, until I realised they're going to take time. And there's no way I can change that.

We live in a society where everything is about the now. We want it, so we must have it, and we must have it now. It can be fun to have moments like that, for example last night when a group of us were at the bar after our church student group, and wondered what it would be like to do a mix-up of fast food meals. So we went and did it. McDonalds and KFC didn't know what had hit them!

But that sense of immediacy is not something that really comes from the stories we read in the bible. It often takes many biblical characters days, weeks, months, years or even decades before they get what they want. Think of the many numbers of women in the bible who wait to have children. Or Noah waiting for rain. Or the Israelites who wait to get into the promised land. Or Abraham waiting for descendants. Or all the Jewish people who were waiting for Jesus to come.

When God promises something, He means it. This is fact. So if I truly believe in my heart that God has promised something to me, then that thing will appear in my life, in whatever form God may wish it to take, at some point. I have no control over when that may be, but I can know for absolute certainty that God will deliver.

The wait may feel painful, but it is also healthy. I often think that it's in times of desperation and longing for something that I really start to grow the most. When we find ourselves waiting for God to show up along with His sack full of promises, our faith can begin to deepen.