Last summer while traveling back up north here to our new home in Rice Lake Wisconsin, we stopped at a rest area along the interstate. After walking Tino, our dog, I went inside to go to the bathroom and wash up. As I entered the building I couldn't help but notice the long row of vending machines and the many people digging for loose change frantically trying to appease their highway hunger pangs and quiet down the kiddies for awhile. What made me take notice though was the instantaneous change in attitudes when folks had put their money in and selected their snack of choice or beverage then gave it to their children. The decibel level dropped immediately from a somewhat high pitched fingernails across the blackboard whine to instant, albeit momentary bliss. Instant gratification, how convenient! Anyway, the thought that made me chuckle as I was walking back to our vehicle was the irony that this was a microcosm of our world today. I am not criticizing the actions of other parents who need to soothe restless and sometimes impatient children on long road trips. Not hardly, since I can wholly empathize being a father of five now thankfully grown up children. But rather the the many instantaneous solutions we have in our world now designed to quell or stave off inconveniences or solve problems.
If there are two words that sum up our ever rapidly evolving planet they are, right now. In our haste to solve all of our own problems we constantly try to accelerate almost all aspects of our life to make them easier or more convenient. Man made solutions have spawned full time industries for the ever increasing list of man made problems. The ultimate vicious circle grows not smaller as we had hoped but ever wider like an intensifying hurricane. Have you ever heard the saying when people need something immediately, "Today is good, yesterday was better, tomorrow won't work." That's how we've become. Whether it be important decisions in school, work, life choices, or any crises, we have gone from hold on a minute let's think this through first. Or better yet, let's pray about it and seek God's wisdom, to Google it, text somebody, Facebook search it, Twitter it or change a channel. In this world of at your finger tips results, we have subliminally conditioned ourselves likewise and have set moral relevance and common sense aside. Our new man made god's serve us faithfully in increasingly faster ways and encourage our dependence like the ambivalent entities they are. Data in and data out! I am not berating the wonders of such technology, as it has helped us in way good ways. We simply rely too much on our technology outside of it's designed applications and it's enticing aspects of speed and answers, instead of slowing down to reflect and take the time to seek the Creator of all that has been given to us in this world. Whatever happened to meaningful soul searching by asking our pastor and intimate discussions with family members when we need to make important decisions about our lives? Or quiet prayer time with ourselves to seek the One who has no bad advice or wrong answers. That's right, God's record is perfect! Unlike man made devices which rely in part on imperfect men designing them and then putting in imperfect data. Consequently, you have breakdowns and software malfunctions. God always answers you correctly. Let me repeat myself for those of you hard of hearing, I said correctly and not conveniently. You may not want to hear God's unfiltered, unedited, never late, or even silent responses sometimes but they are always true and loving. He always has our best interests at heart and cares for us more than any source of help, human or technological on earth. And heaven help us, all it takes is earnest effort on our part in seeking and the dreaded "P" word, patience!
In my own life's road there have been many potholes, a few crashes, some property damage and tears. But their have been many more miles of smooth roads, sunny days and peaceful traveling. I simply had to stop wanting to solve my own problems my own way and to seek guidance from He who knows me best. For my type A personality that was most challenging. I've learned when God is sought out earnestly and I take His guidance and advice, I don't make bad decisions. So slow down, because in case you hadn't noticed God's not going anywhere!
Psalms 32: 8-10
I will instruct you and teach you in the way
you should go; I will guide you with My eye. {9} Do not be like the
horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be
harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you. {10}
Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; But he who trusts in the LORD,
mercy shall surround him.
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