By F. D. Adkins
The rumble of the tractor fills the air as I watch my handsome husband moving the dirt away from the location that will eventually be the foundation and basement of our new home. As giant roots show themselves in the loose earth, I grab them up and toss them on the burn pile. Every scoop of dirt removed is a step closer to our dream house.
I stand staring and imagining what the final product will look like when the pulsing of my phone vibrating in my jacket tingles against my side getting my attention. Knowing it could be one of my kids, I slip off my glove and slide the phone from my pocket. Oh. Just an email.
“What?” Our order for a half dozen donuts has been received and is being prepared for delivery.
My finger scrolls down, and my eyes almost pop from my head at the sight of the numbers on my screen. “$21 for six donuts. Does that even include the tip?”
Scrambling for the call button, I get my teen on the line. “Did you order half a dozen donuts to be delivered?”
“I am hungry.”
Reminding myself to maintain a calm voice, I try to understand the logic. “Really…$21 for six donuts? We could just drive right down to the gas station and get six for five dollars.”
“Don’t worry. It’s okay. For some reason, I got a notification that the order was canceled.”
I exhale letting out a long sigh of relief.
***
Thankfully, that specific order was canceled, but we had quite a few that did not get canceled. All types of food including burgers, chicken nuggets, hotdogs, and slushies have turned up outside our front door. On one occasion, I actually never even knew someone had been on our porch until I saw my child come down the stairs, open the front door, and pick up a foil-wrapped hotdog off of the doormat. I still cannot figure out what keeps a dog from snatching these costly treats.
When the coronavirus pandemic quarantine took away the luxury of eating out, food delivery services flourished. Thankfully, the expense of having these small food orders delivered was a lesson that did not take long to sink in once the balance on the debit card was depleted. After all, the point in my teens having debit cards was to teach money management, so I suppose this was a needed learning experience even though I had to watch them waste their money on delivery fees.
“I want it now.” This seems to be the motto of our society today, and with the current technology, we have the power in the palm of our hand to make this idea absolute without even leaving the house. The problem is the system has a flaw since it cannot determine with certainty that the person operating the device is actually eighteen years old. I have opened the mailbox to discover one of my children signed up for a subscription of books. I have opened a bill addressed to one of my children for XM Sirius radio. I have opened a bank statement to discover one of my children has a monthly service charge for a television channel. As frustrating as it is to fix these things, they are learning how easy it is to click a button now and the reality that the money will be taken from their account when the bill comes.
Now, the examples I just gave sound almost absurd, but in reality, we cannot pass judgment on their mistakes because these are minuscule in comparison to our adult indulgences. Let’s face it. These kids are learning the dos and don’ts of life and the consequences attached to those dos and don’ts. Adults should already know better, shouldn’t we? Unfortunately, those of us that have surpassed our youth are notorious for living according to the “I want it now” motto. Why save our money and wait until we can afford something when we have all of these options that say, “buy now, pay later.”
” I mean if we can buy a car with a promotion telling us we can have it now and wait six months before having to make a payment, why not? We have six months to figure out how we are going to pay for it. Six months is a long time, right? Of course, we blink, and six months is not that long after all. And how many impulse buys do we make surfing the web? I admit that I am guilty. I no longer allow myself to check out the daily deals on Amazon. If I do not see it, I cannot add it to my cart. If it is not in the cart, I cannot click checkout now.
But this no-waiting, have it right now, frame of mind does not just apply to buying things. With today’s technology, we do not have to leave the house to rent or buy a movie. No more trips to the video rental store to pick out movies that we forget to return. With the click of a button, we can watch practically anything anytime commercial-free. Furthermore, we wait in line for a haircut or a doctor’s appointment from home eliminating all of that time spent sitting in the lobby. Yesterday, I went to the urgent care clinic website and added my son to the waiting list. They sent a text thirty minutes before he would be seen giving us enough time to drive there.
In all honesty, I am not sure that the words “wait” or “no” are part of our vocabulary anymore. My worry is that this “I want it now” thought process we have adopted is affecting our expectations of prayer. Do we understand that when we pray God may say “wait?” Do we understand that God’s answer to our prayer might be “no?” Do we understand that God’s timing has not changed to conform to our modern “I want it now” motto? Do we understand God is listening to our prayers even if we do not get what we want?
What does the Bible say about prayer and God’s timing? Here are a few verses that I came across in my Bible study this week:
- “And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us” (1 John 5:14 KJV).
Note: This verse says “if we ask according to His will” meaning that we are praying humbly accepting that God knows what is best, and we want His answer to our request to align with His plans for us. Not our plans. For example, I want to have my novel published, but what if that is not part of God’s plan?
- “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jeremiah 29:11 KJV).
God has a plan for our future. Where we see right now, God sees the big picture. So, where we see a new car without a payment for six months, God sees the results of this financial burden ten years from now. Where we see the examples that we set for our children, God sees how these examples will be passed on and reflected to our great, great, great-grandchildren.
- “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are My ways your ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9 KJV).
Note: His way is not our “I want it now” motto. We may not always understand God’s answer to our prayer. However, we have to accept His answer because His “thoughts are not our thoughts.” While we do not have the knowledge of what tomorrow or the day after that holds, God knows everything that is going to take place through eternity. God’s “ways are not our ways.” God is all-powerful, and His hands are always at work doing what our hands cannot. While we get up in the morning and flip on the light switch, God puts the sun in the sky.
Sometimes in life, we can look back and see why God told us “to wait” or “no.”
When my husband accepted a job up north, we had a contract on our house, but we had to move before the closing. We were staying in a hotel until the paperwork on the sale was finalized so we could purchase a house in our new location. Needless to say, when the realtor called and informed me that the contract fell through because the buyers could not get financing, I was a little worried. We could not buy a house until we sold the one down south. On top of that, homes in the area we moved to were much more expensive. But guess what? A few days later, the realtor called with a cash offer that was more than the last. God knew the future. He knew we needed a little more to buy a house where we were moving. We just had to stop worrying and trust Him.
However, sometimes we may never have God’s reasoning revealed to us. We probably will never understand the reason for sickness or the loss of a loved one. Sometimes it is not always easy to accept that God’s ways are not our ways. My grandmother suffered losses that I cannot even fathom, and I have often wondered how she was able to cope. However, I also remember my grandmother as one of the Godliest women I have ever met. Her Bible was always out and always open. Later in life, she was sick and bedridden with a broken ankle, but she still climbed down beside her bed on her knees to pray. She put her full trust in God, and He gave her the strength to endure.
- “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8 KJV).
This pretty much sums up how God sees our “I want it now” motto. God’s right now may not be today because God’s clock does not run at the same speed as ours.
God created us to fulfill His purpose for our lives. So, as we make our requests known to God, let’s ask Him to guide us according to His will and His timing even if that means “no” or “not right now.” After all, isn’t it best to trust the One that already knows the outcome?
