The Microwave Society
We don’t know what we’ve got until it’s gone.
The coffee in my cup was cold, so I took it over to the microwave oven to heat it up. I pressed the usual buttons.
Time Cook.
30 Seconds.
Start.
But I didn’t hear the usual microwave sound. Only the light came on.
Time Cook.
30 seconds.
Start.
Nothing.
I became obsessive.
Time Cook.
30 seconds.
Start.
I finally realized pushing buttons over and over did no good. My microwave oven was gone, after serving us faithfully for the past ten years.
For those of you who’ve had this happen, you will know how dependent we are on our microwaves.
Thawing chicken.
Heating up a cold meal.
Melting butter.
We get the job done. Fast.
Last night, it was leftover night in our household. I thought, I’ll just zap the pasta in the microwave, and we’ll be good.
Then it hit me. There was no working microwave. I would have to heat the pasta the old fashioned way, for about thirty minutes in the oven.
Horrors! Dinner would be late.
In our society, we have grown accustomed to meeting our needs quickly.
There’s fast food.
Quick cash.
Non-stops.
Text Messages.
We want answers, and services, and we want them now.
We even hurry up our time with God.
Two-minute devotion.
One-minute prayer
See you tomorrow, God.
Then we desire quick answers to our prayers, but they don’t always come.
Why? Because our walk with the Lord is not a sprint. It’s a long distance run. Hebrews 12:1 says, “And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us…” Psalm 40:1 says, “I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.”
But do we really wait patiently?
In our microwave society, we are not always patient with God, and even less patient with the people around us. We desire snap decisions.
But doesn’t the Word say, be patient with everyone? (1 Thessalonians 5:14)
And isn’t love supposed to be patient and kind? (1 Corinthians 13:4)
How do we get off of the high-speed train? What do we need to do to slow down in the areas where it counts: relationships, with God, with family, and with friends?
Stop the clock.
Quit watching the time.
In the morning, get up early enough to have a long, relaxed conversation with God, rather than an instant message.
Plan an all day outing with your family, and don’t squeeze it in between events.
Turn off the phone.
Turn off the TV.
Sit on the back patio.
Swing in the swing.
Breathe.
Breathe deeply.
Do it again.
And then, have a long, uninterrupted conversation with someone you care about. Quality time with the ones dearest to us is precious. We don’t know what we’ve got until it’s gone.
Great message!
We are all so used to doing things on our time.
Blessings and hugs!
Microwave Generation
I am afraid a microwave generation
Is taking over our wonderful nation.
As an agrarian society we knew we would need
To wait for a harvest after planting the seed.
Watering and weeding were never through,
So passively waiting would certainly not do.
Now when we want something we drive to the store.
What we have isn’t enough, we always want more.
When we run out of money we pull out the plastic,
Instead of being wise and doing something drastic.
In an emergency when we’re in a mess,
We probably could manage with a whole lot less.
We’d be better off with much less noise
And fewer new electronic toys.
Whatever happened to polite conversation?
Or a family enjoying a relaxed vacation?
Before we tumble over the brink
Our priorities we need to seriously rethink.
Most people would consider this rather odd:
The Bible says “Be still” so we can know God.
His Word contains wisdom for His wonderful plan.
He puts His Holy Spirit within each saved man.
He may tell us to wait in a “still small voice”.
He prefers we obey, but He gives us the choice.