The great philosopher Veruca Salt, from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, sang of the impatient mindset that permeates our sinful culture. She wanted the whole world and could not wait for the tour to end to experience pleasure. If you don’t think she had it correct, consider the pontification of Queen in their rock hit, “I want it all!“
Every person is guilty of impatience. This attitude leads to behavior which compounds our crisis. For example, rather than waiting to save money we pull out the credit card. Rather than waiting for marriage we have teen parents. We rush. We push. In our haste we may step outside of God’s plan, when He wants us to experience the maturity that only patience can provide.
This mindset shift demonstrates humility and a submission to God’s control. Wait, you mean we need to give up control? Yes, as a matter of fact we do. And this may be the source of our friction. Surrendering to the Lordship of Christ will force us to actually take Him at His word.
Exodus 2 concludes with God affirming His promise to hear the cry of His people, yet His answer took 40 years for the preparation of Moses to reach its maturation. God hears us when we pray and cry out! We just need to learn to trust, while we wait.
Waiting doesn’t mean we are lazy and simply twiddle our thumbs. We must remain active and engaged. It does, however, require us to pray incessantly and act when He commands, or wait until He tells us to move. It is easy for us to over complicate life and even to justify sin. While the kid in Veruca Salt may have led us in the wrong direction, the kids who play “follow the leader” may be teaching us a lesson we need to implement!