Delayed Gratification

I remember, as a child. how it always seemed like Christmas was an eternity away, and the closer it drew, the less patient I became. So much so, that my little sister and I (sorry Jen, I blew our cover) used to sneak into Mom and Dad's room, into the closet, behind the clothes and shoes, and meticulously unwrap every present that had our name on it, see what was inside, and then rewrap them all, without Mom ever finding out (until now, forgive me Mom). We had waited painstakingly for roughly 355 days, but when it came down to those last few days, we just caved. 

Joshua, our oldest son, is nine. This concept of delayed gratification is something that we have been trying to work on with him. It's been quite a struggle...he has bad days, and then he has really bad days. The latest episode involve him saving his allowance until he had enough money to by a certain Lego set that he has had his eye on. The deal was, once he saved enough for everything, including tax, we would take him the following Friday, the day we usually head into Anderson to run errands. He was only three dollars short of his goal, when he decided to run a targeted campaign aimed at his little brother in hopes there might be a generous donation to the aforementioned Lego fund. Jonathan, being our cheerful giver, eagerly agreed to help his brother reach his goal. That was Tuesday of this week. So from Tuesday until Thursday (today), Josh has been begging me to take him to Toys R Us, to which I promptly respond, "I will take you on Friday, just like we planned." Over these past three days, there have been more sighs, more rolled eyes, more crossed arms, and more stomps in my home that I care to count. It's been a long three days filled with discipline, time outs, and loss of privileges. The waiting has truly proven itself to be the hardest part for Josh.

In this world of instant coffee, fast food, super sonic aircraft, high speed Internet and flash drives, the most difficult thing in the world is having to wait. In today's culture, it is not too popular to wait for something that you are longing for, whether it be a child's toy, that shiny new car, or even a mate.  Credit card companies thrive on our inability to tell ourselves "not yet".  Department stores entice us with their "one day only" sales. We are bombarded with slogans like "just do it", and "have it your way". Most ironically, even the popular feminist organization uses the acronym "NOW". In the history of all history, we are, without a doubt, the generation that has the least patience, the largest lack of self denial, and the most impulsive people, and yes, I'm ashamed to say I too fall into more than one of those categories.

So what is it about waiting that is so difficult? Maybe it's just that technology and innovation has basically placed every desire right there at our fingertips. Could it be that in generations past, many people were able to wait on things because, for the most part, they had no other choice? Before FedEx and email and even post offices, there were stagecoaches. Before microwaves there were ovens. Before digital cameras there were those pesky rolls of film. (I know my children will read this one day and ask themselves, what is a roll of film?? And then they will google it to instantly find their answer...).

Or maybe it's a little more subtle than that. Maybe it has something to do with our human nature and getting everything in the right order.

Luke 4:1-4: Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry. Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.” But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’ ”

The devil knew after fasting that Jesus would be hungry. He also knew that Jesus indeed had the power to change that stone into bread. The devil attempted to play on a real physical need and to question Jesus' real spiritual ability. But Jesus, possessing the wisdom and self control that comes from being full of the Holy Spirit, was able to say, no. Even though His hunger was obvious and his authority was being challenged.

Here's another example, but it has a twist.

2 Samuel 11: In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

So here's David, King over all Israel. He's King, so he should have been going off to war, as kings did in the spring. But instead, he was home in his palace. On the roof. Ogling a beautiful, naked, married woman who was taking a bath. He was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, doing the wrong thing. Then, letting his passion and temptation overwhelm him, he sent for her, slept with her, and she got pregnant. (No, this isn't a rerun from Sex in the City, this is really the Bible!) Talk about your instant gratification. Forget technology and innovation. This is just pure human lust and doing what "feels good" at the time. If you read on in that same passage, you would read how David ends up having Bathsheba's husband killed intentionally when he can no longer cover up the pregnancy.  A snowball of sin, all because David wanted what he wanted, when he wanted it. God in His mercy forgave David, because David, although he fell often into sin, was quick to sincerely repent.

But was David's momentary pleasure worth it? Here's what the prophet Nathan spoke to David, on the Lord's behalf: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’ “This is what the LORD says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”

Let's see...that baby born to Bathsheba (the beautiful, naked bather) was condemned to die, and did, seven days later. Bathsheba finds out her husband was killed and mourns her loss. One of David's sons falls in love with his sister and commits incest and rape...and on and on...nope, I don't think David would have said that giving in to his misguided urges and desires was worth it in the long run.

We all face temptations each and every day. We all have choices to make. In your face kind of choices. Choices of being true to our self (which is nothing more than our own, weak, sinful human nature) or being true to God (who created us in His image, loves us with an everlasting love, and has a divine purpose and plan for our lives, and is willing and able to empower us to live a life that pleases Him and fulfills our greatest desires.)  We are the only ones that can make those choices for ourselves. So what do you choose? To whom do you choose to be true? Yourself (your SELF), or God?

"If you decide that it's a bad thing to worship God,

then choose a god you'd rather serve—

and do it today.

Choose one of the gods your ancestors worshiped

from the country beyond The River,

or one of the gods of the Amorites,

on whose land you're now living.

As for me and my family,

we'll worship God."

Joshua 24:15 (The Message)

Listening to Barney on Netflix

My sweet Lily

Jonathan's last day of being 5!

Lily with her Linus blanket eating breakfast.

Enjoying the View

With the long holiday weekend, we decided to go yesterday to Table Rock again and hike the trails. Luis has been itching to get back up there, and the kids couldn't have been more pleased. We decided to take a relatively easy trail, being our first time going and having Lily with us. I can't think if anything worse that being halfway up a mountain, miles from your destination, with an almost 2 year old who has reached her limit. So we opted for Carrick Creek trail, a modest 1.9 miles (The first half of it was completely uphill...I almost died!). I managed to convince Jonathan that all we needed was my one backpack, but I had to bargain with him and take his pencil and notebook, along with our water. When I found out that the pencil and notebook were for him to write down all the neat things he saw, I realized we had a problem. Jonathan is five (turns six in five days). He just finished Kindergarten. He loves to write words...but it takes him a long time to write them, while I have to spell every word out for him. Can you imagine being on a hike and having to stop every time he wanted to write something? M-U-S-H-R-O-O-M...A-M-P-H-I-B-I-A-N....I think you see my point. So, instead of squelching his idea altogether, I decided to make him our camera man. That way, he could take pictures of whatever caught his eye, yet keep walking. Well, I must have had over a hundred pictures from that hike alone. He took shots of leaves and stones, feathers and mushrooms. Anything he thought was interesting. Anything and everything because he's five...and to a five year old, everything is interesting and new.

"For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, "I'm telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God's kingdom. What's more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it's the same as receiving me." Matthew 18:2-5

Why is it when we become adults, we lose that childlike simplicity? Why do we complicate everything? If it weren't for Jonathan, I would have missed so many interesting things along the trail. Even Luis got in on it and spotted a rabbit and a fabulous huge feather that was camouflaged in a stream. Little things...things that would have been so easy to walk right by...but aren't those little things what make life so beautiful? Lily's hugs. Nani's phone calls. Ladybugs. Saturday morning pancakes. Soccer training with Dad in the back yard. Piggy back rides. Friday night movie night. Family. Love. I have to admit, I stress out a wee bit about lots of things...and don't get me wrong, I know there's a time and place for everything. I guess I just needed a reminder that it's OK to relax, laugh, and just let things roll. It was really nice to enjoy the view from 4 feet off the ground. Thanks for the reminder, my sweet Jonathan.

Super Power

A couple months back, we signed up for Netflix. We can watch movies and TV programs on demand through a wireless Internet connection through our Wii console. (Isn't technology amazing!?!) A few weeks ago, I found the complete set of one of my favorite TV shows from my childhood: Lois and Clark. I have always loved the Superman movies, as far fetched as they may be. Today, after coming home from church, we watched 4 episodes...a regular Lois and Clark marathon! If you are up on your Superman trivia, you know that he came from the planet Krypton, and has powers that humans could only dream of. In a particular episode today, Superman was fighting villains from his home planet, who had the same power he did. At one point, the military of earth decided to try to defend against these villains, and it was a sad display of weakness compared to the superhuman forces of those from planet Krypton. Believe it or not, even in the middle of watching this silly series, I had a revelation. I said to Luis that the way the military of earth tried to fight the villains of Krypton is the same way mankind tries to fight the real forces of evil that exist in today's world. I respect our military and all they try to do for peace, but the ideals they are fighting against are unseen evil that has been around through the ages. Why do we try to fight evil with our man made weapons? Many don't even know there are other weapons at every humans' disposal. Many people have lived their life, without even giving God a first thought, much less a second one. Imagine what kind of world this would be if we laid down our man-made weapons and picked up the spiritual ones that were created for us to use? Weapons like praise and prayer, worship and the Word.  Imagine how much power goes wasted because we try to do things in our own strength. How much energy we exert trying to accomplish something that could have been solved so much more efficiently and effectively if we let God work through us to solve them His way. "How very simplistic", you might be thinking...but the more that I learn of God through his Word, the more I realize that we, many times, are completely missing the whole point of what our purpose of this life is. I'll be the first to say that I get it wrong...ALOT. The Bible says that "though we walk (live) in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons. For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds" 2Cor. 10:3-4(Amp). So very clearly, God is letting us know there are more effective weapons than the earthly, man-made might that we have become accustomed to.

How, then, do we make the transition from physical weapons to spiritual ones? Obedience. First, by surrendering our life and our will to the Lord Jesus Christ. Accepting him as the supreme authority of our life, and acknowledging that it is through Him we "live, and move, and have our being". (Acts 17:28). That is a vital first step, one that can't be skipped or minimized. But we must realize that it is just the first step...the beginning of a larger process. Many people stop here. They realize that their destiny for eternity is secured, but they never move forward to the next step, and consequently live a life of little power, small vision, and battles with little or no defense.

After making that first move toward God, we must recognize that we have been conformed by everything that is around us. We are people who are consumed with our physical senses and, in effect, we have come to always rely on them. 2 Cor. 4:18 says, "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." To put it simply, the things that we see with our physical eyes (our senses) are here for a moment and will be gone, but the things that we do not see (that are spiritual) will last forever. Our human nature usually seeks logic, and the path of least resistance. So more often than not, what we see all around us with our physical sight gets our full attention and in essence, distracts us from the spiritual things that are of eternal importance. So how do we make the shift? How do we do away with our conformity of the physical world? We need to do 2 things. We need to change the way we think by learning through God's word (The Bible) how He sees us. (Romans 12:2 says. "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.") and we need to ready ourselves for spiritual battle. (Ephesians 6:10-18 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.)

Lastly, we need to walk with the Holy Spirit. When Jesus came, His mission was to redeem mankind from the eternal separation which resulted from sin. But Jesus himself says that He was the door through which the Holy Spirit would come to us. (John 6:7). The only thing that is able to empower us is living life full of the Spirit of God. We are reminded in Galatians 5:16-17 to "Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish." This last part is probably the most difficult for those not following God to understand. It is so contrary to what we have been trained to do in every day life. Many people think of this step as something mythical...a scene right out of Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings...but why do you think these books and movies have become so wildly popular in today's secular world? It is because they contain an element of truth...the portrayal of the spiritual realm that is foreign to those who have not chosen to connect with their Maker.

If we could just wrap our brain around the amount of power lies on the inside of us, even those of us who already believe and walk closely with God would be even more amazed than we already are at how God can make the seemingly impossible, possible. I am convinced that we were created for such a far greater purpose than most people ever realize. Like Superman, we have been given the gift of "super power" though the Holy Spirit to fight against evil that exists in the spiritual realm. Imagine what could be accomplished if more of us lived up to the full potential that God has placed within each one of us.

Be Still

When everything rages around us

When we want to fight

And attack

And defend

When it looks hopeless

And all seems lost

He calls us, at times, to do the illogical.

He tells us to

BE STILL.

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 

Therefore we will not fear,

though the earth give way

and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 

though its waters roar and foam

and the mountains quake with their surging.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy place where the Most High dwells.

God is within her, she will not fall;

God will help her at break of day. 

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;

he lifts his voice, the earth melts. 

The LORD Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress. 

Come and see what the LORD has done,

the desolations he has brought on the earth. 

He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth.

He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

he burns the shields with fire. 

He says,

“Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.”

The LORD Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.