Now God

We cop a lot of flack for being the instant generation. Drive-through meals and drive-through coffee. Instant gratification and feedback through social network platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. As a whole, we are considered impatient, demanding and self focused. There is no doubt some truth to these statements, but I believe that if we scratch the surface there is more going on than simple impatience and egocentrism.

An undercurrent of anxiety and uncertainty can be felt in our generation and it has conditioned the way we receive and respond to the world around us. Certain fixed ideals of previous generations have been exposed and proved as flawed. Dogmatism and rigid one-size-fits-all programs have left us scraped and bruised and our generation doesn't want a bar of it (and fair enough). But perhaps the swing of the pendulum has taken us too far in the opposite direction. We are floundering for a lack of any fixed truth. There is little that we can count on and on the whole, a vague sense of powerlessness and anxiety can permeate our every day life.
Given this context, it is understandable that we have grasped for the satisfaction of the instant and attainable. After all, what else is there to hope for? Yesterday has been exposed as a lie. Tomorrow is uncertain. What else do we have but the present moment?

The God of all generations exquisitely understands our position. As the Creator of the human heart and mind, He knows why we think and feel the way we do and He knows exactly what we need. We need a very present, very accessible and instant God. By instant, I do not mean that we need a God who is subject to our whims and desires and sense of timing, rather I am pointing to the fact that we need instant access to His presence, His power and His direction. And there is nothing wrong with this. In fact, In His Word, God has revealed Himself to be completely reliable and readily accessible to those who seek Him.

Consider the immediacy in the following statements.
- The Lord is a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1)
- The Word of the Lord is near, in our hearts and mouths (Deuteronomy 30:14)
- When we call upon Him, He hears us and delivers us from our trouble (Psalm 34:17)
- The Lord is near to those who call upon Him in truth. (Psalm 145:18)

A healthy relationship involves stability, presence and accessibility and God created things to be that way. He didn't create us with needs so that He could leave them unquenched.
The believer is given the divine privilege of constant, need-based access to the life and power of Christ. And the present tense of the great I AM is littered all throughout Scripture.
It is in His presence and perspective that we find the strength, wisdom and patience for the long haul. We are tempered and aligned to His purpose and timing. We recognise the redemption of the past and we take a stance of hope for the future.
God is a very present God.
A now-God for the instant generation.

'For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.'

Hebrews 4:15,16