Friday, February 15, 2008

Generation NOW!

I get really frustrated when my computer takes more than a nanosecond to do anything I ask it to do. Often when I’m at work I’m working over a satellite connection and then there is a latency that makes even the words I type appear a split second after I type them. This is really annoying. I want immediate action! Isn’t this the way of the world right now? Information is available immediately and many services are available on demand. This generation more than any other could rightly be called the “now generation”.
Coupled with this reality is the sensation that time itself is moving at a faster pace. One year for me today feels like it goes by like a few months when I was young. Why is that? Why is it that a summer used to last for an eternity and now I blink and a year passes? I’m in such a rush for things to happen and every once and a while I stop and look around and it’s dizzying how quickly life is speeding by me. Well, a co-worker explained to me a few years ago that time seems to be speeding up because each measure of time is actually getting shorter as a percentage of my total age. In other words, a year today is roughly equivalent to 4 months when I was 12 years old and 1 year when I was 12 is like 3 years to me today. If I follow that logic out to when I’m 95 years old 8 years will be like 1 year when I was a child.
Have you ever wondered why God sometimes takes days, months even years to answer our prayers? Sometimes I pray for something and I’m hoping that the answer will be there when I open my eyes. I’ve heard people suggest writing your prayer requests down and looking back at them years later. I think those people have also noticed God sometimes takes longer than we would like to answer our prayers. If you believe what I said about 3 years to an adult being like one year to a child what does that mean for God? What would one year be like for the One who formed the earth, the Ancient of Days, The Eternal God? How about one day? Or a thousand years? Looking at time this way hasn’t helped me be more patient per se, but it has helped me understand that waiting a day, a year, or even a lifetime for an answer doesn’t mean God doesn’t love me He just sees time different than I do and His timing is perfect.

For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. – Psalm 90:4

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. – 2 Peter 3:8-9

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