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Jacob's Blog
 Hello and welcome to my personal blog page called "faith lounge". Unlike my official ministry website, this is just a place for me to share my most current thoughts.
Enjoy the Journey
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him... Psalm 37:7
“One step at a time…” Those five little words carry a huge dose of significance. In the world we live in, virtually everything is instant. You can Instant Message (IM) someone clear across the globe—typing and talking as if though they were sitting right across the coffee table. Creditors offer instant rewards and points every time you swipe their plastic card. Google any word, and you get instant search results.
Bookstores are cluttered with self-help books promising to make you an instant millionaire. Over-the-counter diet pills advertise instant weight loss. You can find “instant” solutions for just about anything you need.
Everyone marveled at the microwave when it instantly warmed up a cold slice of pizza…but that’s nothing compared to what’s out these days. Even if products or services don’t say the word instant in their marketing campaigns, that is what they intend to deliver.
Why all this instant stuff?
The answer is simple. Everyone is in this generation is busy. Information and results must be at your fingertips. Those who are business-minded or goal-oriented find themselves attracted to any gadget or idea that will boost their productivity and enhance their effectiveness. From smart phones to GPS navigation systems, we’re becoming more and more dependant on instant fulfillment. So much so that you’ll communicate with a satellite hovering thousands of miles away, to give you directions to your local grocery store.
The word patience isn’t in the vocabulary of most people today. Even farmers and those living in rural areas have Blackberry handhelds and email addresses. Today’s generation is obsessed with instant results and information.
Does this pose a problem for Christians?
Yes and no.
I’m delighted to see Christian men and women involved, if not leading the way with technology. I believe we should encourage one another to achieve higher heights in business and stay on the cutting-edge. If the tools are available, we should utilize them in moderation and not allow them to run our lives.
Sometimes I wonder who’s controlling who, the technology, or the people using it. When your little smart device buzzes in the middle of dinner with your family, and you can’t resist but to grab and check it, you’re hooked.
Aside from interrupting dinnertime, the instant generation poses a real challenge for the Christian who has a God-given dream or purpose. The reason is because very few things happen instantly in God’s plan. Besides an instantaneous miracle or wonder, God always does things in a process.
Consider Creation for a moment.
God can create galaxies on the drop of a dime, yet He took His sweet time forming the world. Think of it. He spread His creative work across seven days. Some speculate how long a day is to God—24 hours or even a thousand years. However you view it, God chose to build this masterpiece in a process.
He started with a blank canvas called time and carefully hung the stars and finger-painted the cosmos. God was in no hurry. Of course He had a plan, but His plan was anchored in a process.
He spent each creative day accomplishing a new and fresh idea. Then once He was satisfied with His work, He patted Himself on the back and just relaxed on the seventh day.
Imagine that?
God just kicked up His feet and rested after all He had done. This was all apart of the process. When He created man; He lovingly dipped His mighty hand into the dirt, formed mud and shaped the body you see in the mirror every day. One thing’s for sure, God didn’t just put me in the microwave and zap me into existence!
He had a recipe for you and I. Everything about your life, He made from scratch. Your sweet or zesty personality is a recipe right out of His Heavenly cookbook.
When it comes to your life and the dreams that God's given you, He is in no hurry. Every extraordinary work He does, takes time to unveil. Is God a laggard? Does He just like holding things up for fun?
Of course not.
God is a God of process. He celebrates the journey. In God’s eternal perspective, the journey is just as important as the destination, if not more.
posted by Jacob Rodriguez at Monday, April 21, 2008
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