Instant

One of the more recent kitchen appliances making big promises is the InstaPot. Instantly cook entire meals in an instant! Or so it at least sounds.

At least the name promises a quick path, less work, and delicious results. No true waiting or working hard. No need for a long game.

Now what if we had an InstaPot for our prayers? Just drop your request in, figure out the correct setting, and voilà! No waiting.

Yet if we have any familiarity with God’s approach and working, we know that won’t work. God is playing the long game. He wants us to learn His goodness, His desire for our hearts to be shaped like His, for our lives to reflect Him. There is nothing instant about a walk with God. As the title of a Eugene Peterson book says, it is a long obedience in the same direction.

And that’s reassuring. God doesn’t pop in and out of our lives capriciously like some sort of genie. He is constant and constantly present.

We can live in the slow simmer of God’s love knowing He cares for our eternal life not just our here and now.