I Want it Now

Little Bit and I went to the store the other day to buy groceries for Sabbath. Of course we had to go down the clearance aisle because why not. We saw a baby doll set in the aisle. It came with the baby, a bed, stroller, high chair, bath, and other accessories. Not thinking she would take me up on it, 

I told her I’d get it for her if she gave away all of her other toys. She got super excited and said yes! She promised she wouldn’t throw a fit and she’d give away everything. 

I was unsure of this. I began listing off toys that are extremely special to her. Including ones she’s had since she was a baby. Her special Chewy, a stuffed animal we gave her for her first birthday. Elizabeth and Gracie, dolls similar to American Girl Dolls her grandfather got her for Christmas. 

I kept listing off toys I knew she considered special. And yet she still was willing to give away everything for this one toy. 

Of course, I called the Hubs and talked to him. I also had him talk to Little Bit. We decided to not get it and put it back, which made Little Bit sad. 

The problem though is she was only looking at the here and now. She wanted instant gratification. She wasn’t looking ahead to see how it would affect her a week from now, a month from now, or even a year from now.  We know our daughter quite well. We know she would cry her little heart out if she no longer had certain toys. But she was only seeing what was in front of her. She was only seeing what she wanted now. What would make her happy in that exact moment. 

As I was thinking about this experience with our daughter, I was also thinking about humans as a whole and instant gratification. Or as my husband calls it, the microwave generation. We as a human race want what we want and we want it now. We don’t think about the ramifications that may follow. I want to be happy and I want to be happy now. What? You mean I hurt someone’s feelings? I don’t care. I got what I wanted. 

But I think the hardest one is with our relationship with God. We want things now, at this very moment, that we fall into temptation and sin. At the moment, the sin feels good or makes us happy. 

But we don’t think about how we will feel one week, one month, one year, or even an eternity later. Our relationship with Jesus should not be a microwave relationship. It should be more of a slow cooker relationship. 

When we are tempted, we should not think about what we get right now. What would make us happy in this instant. But instead, it should be what would please God? What would make me happy in the long run? What would give me eternal happiness with my Lord and Savior? 

That is the real question. It is not about instant gratification, but eternal salvation and happiness. 

Our choices today affect where we spend eternity. In Heaven with Jesus or eternal death. 

There have been a few challenges on YouTube concerning little kids. The parent puts something tasty in front of the child. The parent tells them to not eat it and then they walk out of the room. The child agonizingly stares at the item. Either a marshmallow, cookie, cupcake, or something like that. Many times the children are not able to maintain self-control and eat the item before the parent comes back. But if the child can wait, they not only get the one item, but they get another for being patient. 

Which child are you like? Do you want the instant deliciousness and eat it or do you wait and receive a greater reward? Do you fall into temptation for an instant reward, satisfaction, or fleeting happiness? Or do you “submit yourselves therefore to God and resist the devil?” James 4:7. James 1:12 says, “blessed is the man that endures the temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him.” 

We can overcome. The reward is greater than whatever temptation or sin lies before us. We only know this life, this pleasure, this happiness. 

But what about Heaven and Jesus? “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9. 

There is a greater reward than we can ever imagine. Yes, greater than that donut. Greater than that one night stand. Greater than that movie. Greater than anything that gives us fleeting happiness. We can spend eternity with Jesus. That reward is greater. Wait on the Lord. Wait on His reward. It is possible Only By God’s Amazing Grace.

 

Asymptotes

 I was teaching my students asymptotes in class. Let me give you a real quick math lesson. An asymptote is present when the equation is a fraction with a variable in both the numerator and denominator. 

There are three different types of asymptotes: vertical, horizontal, and slant. 

A vertical asymptote is when the denominator’s value would equal zero. In the laws of math, you cannot divide by zero. I always tell my students that if you divide by zero, the world will explode and you don’t want to be the reason we all die! So whatever value of x that makes the denominator equal to zero is the vertical asymptote. It is an imaginary vertical line that the graph will never cross because the graph does not exist on that line. With the equation set up as a fraction, there will always be a vertical asymptote. 

But there may or may not be a horizontal asymptote. 

If there is not a horizontal asymptote, there is a slant asymptote. But here is the thing. For these asymptotes, parts of the graph will not cross the asymptote, but other parts will. 

I was explaining all this, and more, to my students.  And one student has a profound idea. God’s laws, commandments, are the vertical asymptote.  God created those laws and He will not break them. He will not lie, kill, steal, break the Sabbath, covet, etc. and He doesn’t want us to break those laws either. 

But the horizontal and slant asymptotes, God can and will cross those lines to save. He is able to perform miracles in contrast to what seems humanly impossible. 

In Exodus 14, God parted the Red Sea for the Israelites to pass through to escape the Egyptians. It seemed the Israelites were literally between a rock and a hard place.  They had nowhere to go. “And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.” 

Joshua asked God to hold the sun still for a day and God did just that. Joshua 10:12-13. “Then spoke Joshua to the Lord...Sun stand thou still upon Gibeon...and the sun stood still.”  

The Philistines captured the Ark of the covenant and placed it in their temple. Their god, Dagon was found fallen, as if bowed down to God. 1 Samuel 5 gives the account of this story. “...Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again...on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both his palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold...” I love this story because it also shows God’s sense of humor. 

In 2 Kings 4, we find the story of a widow who was about to lose her sons to repay a debt her late husband owed. Elisha advised her to get as many vessels as possible and pour her small pot of oil into each vessel. The oil did not run out until the last vessel was filled. She then sold them to pay off the debt. “Then she came and told the man. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.” 

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were cast into the fiery furnace for not bowing down to the statue King Nebuchadnezzar had built. Yet not a hair on their bodies were burned in Daniel 3. “He answered and said, 

Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” 

Jesus was born of a virgin.  Isaiah 7:14 says “Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” 

Jesus fed 5000 men, not including men and women with five loaves and two fish. Matthew 14:16-21. “And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.” 

Jesus walked on water. Not only Jesus but Peter as well. Not only did Jesus walk on water, but He walked on water during a storm.  And then calmed said storm.  Matthew 14:24-31. “And He said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.” 

In Acts chapter 12, Herod killed James, the brother of John, and to please the Jews, he arrested Peter with all intents to kill him. He was guarded by 16 soldiers. That night, while his church family prayed for him, 

Peter’s chains fell off of him and he walked out of the prison, past all 16 guards and out of locked iron gates. “And Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent His angel, 

and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.” 

And what about Lazarus? In John 11 we find the story of a dead Lazarus. After being dead for four days, Jesus raised him back to life. The Hellenistic view influenced the Jewish thought that the souls of a dead person hung around for three days. But by Jesus waiting four days, He dismissed this thought from their minds and put their minds on the glory of God. Speaking to the disciples, Jesus said, “...Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go that I may awake him out of his sleep...And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent he may believe...” 

There are so many horizontal asymptotes in the Bible. Where God went against what seemed humanly possible to save someone. He continues to do such things today. 

He has sent angels to protect drivers on the road when there was no rhyme or reason an accident didn’t occur. People have been dead only to come back to life with no medical reason. Similar to that of John Smith from the movie based on his story, Breakthrough. The miracles He has done go beyond what we ever deem possible. But because He is God, He created the world, He is able to control the natural world to save you and me. He is able to cross those lines that seem impossible to cross. He created the asymptote, He can cross it. “He is a personal God who loves us and who interacts with us. 

He is a God of miracles who, through using natural laws, is not bound by those laws and who can transcend those laws when He wills.”  He created the sun, He can make it stand still. He created the water, He can walk on it. He created life, He can give it back. He created you and He will do what it takes to save you, including controlling the nature He created. 

It is possible only By God’s Amazing Grace.