A God Like Google?
Do you remember dial-up? I don't. On the contrary, I struggle to remember a time when I could not sit down in front of a computer and find the answer to any question almost immediately.
I will not argue that technology has ruined us. In fact, I will be the first to admit that living without my "modern" devices would require a lifestyle change. A serious one. Technology has given us the incredible abilities to save lives, stay in touch, and to discover.
But some of its indirect effects are not so great. Specifically, the need for immediate and clear results. The truth is most of the worthwhile things in life take years to learn, discover, or develop. As the old saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day.
God never intended our relationship with him to be one that operates on the terms of instant gratification. I know that if I had any say in the matter, God's responses to my prayers would come as quickly as the results of a Google search. But that's just not reality.
Most of the things I've learned in my walk of faith have been days of what seemed to be silence from God that turn into weeks, then months, then years and eventually surmounted into a quiet whisper. I have always struggled with this idea. If God loves me, shouldn't he always be there for me? Why can't I live in a permanent state of "mountain-top experiences?"
I think the answer to those questions has something to do with growth. You see, while God is always with me, he doesn't always answer me immediately. God is a holy and living God, with plans of His own that don't always align with mine; he is NOT my personal genie in a bottle. How would I ever learn if God answered to my every beck and call? Would I really want to live in a universe designed by a god so simple he could be ordered around?
As for the mountain-top experiences, I believe there are two explanations. The first is that we grow tired along the hike and decide we might take a short-cut. As resistance turns to compromise, we don't realize that we are descending. We look back to the top with longing. But we assume falsely that God is at the top. In reality, God is beside us, whether we are at the peak or in the valley-- we just tend to notice him better when we're not so distracted by where we want to be.
There is another reason our faith is not a permanent mountain-top experience, though. Sometimes we adjust to the air. We reach the "mountain-top" and we are dizzy with excitement, just as a true hiker is sometimes dizzy from breathing thin air. But then we adjust to the air, and we are convinced that we are getting farther and farther away from the top.
In reality, we will never reach the true "top of the mountain" in this world. There will always be room to grow closer to God, but we should see that as a reason for hope, not a frustration. Rome may have not been built in a day, but just think of how grand it looked when it was finished. And Rome was built by mere mortals. We serve a kingdom thousands of years in the making: not a kingdom of men, but the Kingdom of God.
It will be a reward worth the wait.
I will not argue that technology has ruined us. In fact, I will be the first to admit that living without my "modern" devices would require a lifestyle change. A serious one. Technology has given us the incredible abilities to save lives, stay in touch, and to discover.
But some of its indirect effects are not so great. Specifically, the need for immediate and clear results. The truth is most of the worthwhile things in life take years to learn, discover, or develop. As the old saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day.
God never intended our relationship with him to be one that operates on the terms of instant gratification. I know that if I had any say in the matter, God's responses to my prayers would come as quickly as the results of a Google search. But that's just not reality.
Most of the things I've learned in my walk of faith have been days of what seemed to be silence from God that turn into weeks, then months, then years and eventually surmounted into a quiet whisper. I have always struggled with this idea. If God loves me, shouldn't he always be there for me? Why can't I live in a permanent state of "mountain-top experiences?"
I think the answer to those questions has something to do with growth. You see, while God is always with me, he doesn't always answer me immediately. God is a holy and living God, with plans of His own that don't always align with mine; he is NOT my personal genie in a bottle. How would I ever learn if God answered to my every beck and call? Would I really want to live in a universe designed by a god so simple he could be ordered around?
As for the mountain-top experiences, I believe there are two explanations. The first is that we grow tired along the hike and decide we might take a short-cut. As resistance turns to compromise, we don't realize that we are descending. We look back to the top with longing. But we assume falsely that God is at the top. In reality, God is beside us, whether we are at the peak or in the valley-- we just tend to notice him better when we're not so distracted by where we want to be.
There is another reason our faith is not a permanent mountain-top experience, though. Sometimes we adjust to the air. We reach the "mountain-top" and we are dizzy with excitement, just as a true hiker is sometimes dizzy from breathing thin air. But then we adjust to the air, and we are convinced that we are getting farther and farther away from the top.
In reality, we will never reach the true "top of the mountain" in this world. There will always be room to grow closer to God, but we should see that as a reason for hope, not a frustration. Rome may have not been built in a day, but just think of how grand it looked when it was finished. And Rome was built by mere mortals. We serve a kingdom thousands of years in the making: not a kingdom of men, but the Kingdom of God.
It will be a reward worth the wait.
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