Microwave Culture

I often hear people say that “God is working in you”. Equally often, I feel like responding “Yes, but why doesn’t it seem like that”.

I think the reason I want to respond that way is because I like the dramatic: the phenomenal, the momentous, the fantastic. And more than that, I want it fast: immediately, now.

The problem is that God doesn’t work that way. No. That’s wrong. That’s not the problem. The problem is that I want God to work that way. But as someone told me once, God is the God of slow, not fast. God’s at work in us, but while we may not be able to see the changes on a daily basis, when looking at ourselves over a longer timespan, we’d be able to see the changes. And yes, the changes we see in ourselves are phenomenal and fantastic.

Case in point: my friend KR. Three years ago I met her, and we co-led a group in our Discover Christ course at church. She’d become a Christian just a few months earlier, and now she wanted to help others in their journey of discovery.

Over the past few years I’ve really seen her mature in her walk with God. She’s become completely involved in our church, specifically the Evening Service Committee and the prayer ministry.

This past Sunday I ran into her at church. She had a noticeable beam of joy around her. I asked her why she had such a big grin on her face, and she told me that over the past few months God had made it increasingly clear that he was preparing her for church ministry, and in response to this she’d quit her job, enrolled at Regent, as well as the Artizo ministry training program at our church.

Pause. I said "Pardon?" My jaw just about dropped to the floor.

I was really encouraged by her brief but powerful story. God is at work within us. It may not always seem like it, but that’s only because we live in a here/now culture: we want results, and we want them without further delay, right here, right now. But if we're patient to wait upon the Lord, he will reveal to us what he has in store for us.

I’m hungry. I’m gonna go and nuke my dinner in the microwave.