I want it NO-OW!
Immediate Gratification and the problems in can create
Psalm 27:14 Wait on the Lord and be of good courage and He shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord.
Isaiah 40:31 But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; thewy shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint.
Lamentations 3:25 The Lord is good to those whofor Him, to the soul who seeks Him
Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may provewhat is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
James 1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy whwen you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
We tend to be about immediate gratification in this world and time. I certainly believe in ancient times it was about immediate and usually fleshly gratification when there was worship of the “gods”. Certainly many sexual acts were performed, often not with one’s spouse, and often with various instruments and more than one partner. It was all about an immediate tawdry and physical release. As in many things we want immediate thrills, gratifications, and do not look beyone the immediate “pleasure.” And like most things that are a thrill, forbidden, and against God’s words, our partaking of these things can lead to severe problems later. To name only a few, there are many sexual transmitted diseases—some that can kill, many that may not kill, but are incurable, only treatable, and there are the drug addicitions to the detriment of self care, family care, and can and certainly has lead to many deaths.
Satan has convinced most that we are entitled to get what we want without waiting and having to “suffer” doing without. He chuckles as he sends out darts of temptation and watches as we succumb, licking his finger and doing a check motion in the air as he says, ‘Got another one!’
But although we think there is a thrill sometimes in acting some of these things out, certainly they are not always good for us. Even if one does not develop a disease, there can certainly be shame and stressful and unhealthy problems. I have chatted with many women who have had a lot of regret for having casual sex and developed an STD—most without lasting, lifelong disease, but the shame and embarrassment lingers. Disobeying the rules, commandments God has set out is not to show He is a tyrant—they are there to protect us, to keep us clean, pure, and doing the right things in life. He wants us to hesitate, realize something is not according to His will and step away from it. God knows that sinning leads to problems, regrets, shame and sometimes more severe consequences.
And from God’s perspective, we are not honoring another in a special and intimate act, not honoring ourselves and recognizing that our bodies are His temple on earth if we believe. He made male and female to have one mate until the death of one. He had no intentions of “trading in one model for another” and went so far as to call that adultery. Indiscriminate sexual acts can lead to a dulling of senses and pleasure, can lead to sexual disease—syphilis, herpes, gonorrhea, and HIV to name a few. Our minds say it is exciting in the moment to be pursued by a new mate, to play the game of innuendos, teasing, and see where it leads. But that is not always safe for a multiple of reasons.
We want everything now. This is another temptation Satan sends out, and when we act according to his vicious lying and murmuring, we fall into debt and financial hardships. It is fairly rare in this day and age for someone to wait for a purchase. Pull out a plastic card and you can leave the store right now with the item. It is so easy to fill that desire immediately. That does not mean that is always the best choice and decision for you, but it can be done. It may be that the next day your car suddenly needs repairs that are very costly—and now it is a struggle to pay that credit card you used yesterday for the item. You did not NEED the item, it was a desire. However, now you will feel the cost of this for the next couple of months. That is a consequence of jumping into an immediate temptation and not seeking God’s will first. I know that may seem silly to some, but life would feel far less stressful if you had only to pay for the car repairs and get that important object back to good health, instead of also having the bill of the other item.
In this country, we are full of immediate gratification fixes—hungry, swing into any fast food place—the food is costly, there are a lot of fairly unhealthy and fat-laden calories (that yes, full agreement, taste yummy), but is the entire cost worth it. It satisfies that immediate desire—taste buds, hunger, but there is a consequence of money gone, higher and not always healthy calories, potential weight gain, as well as potential cardiac and blood pressure issues, diabetes, overworking the liver….
We don’t wait. We have things in abundance available everywhere around us in this country, and we feed our desires promptly, and disregard thinking of any consequence.
God asks us to seek Him in everything we do. I know He cares and wants to guide us in each of our big decisions. But who wants to seek Him and maybe get a “no”—that’s not fun. And I turn to Him for the big stuff…buying a house, buying a car, should I move and take a new job…? But the smaller day to day stuff we generally take care of without seeking His advice.
Immediate gratification and fulfilling the desire of the moment can have long term effects and can create consequences that can last years, and perhaps forever. I have made many of those ‘want-it-now’ decisions. Sometimes they have been costly. I can honestly say that most caused a plethora of negative, scolding comments in my head, IF they didn’t cost me something more significant. Unpleasant.
Lord, I choose to make the time to seek You before I make any further spontaneous decisions, and have to deal with regret and dismay and consequences. I know You are steadfast and have my best interests in mind, and want to guide me with such. Let me remember to seek You first—always. Thank You for always being there for ‘me and mybellaviews.’
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