When the Polaroid SX-70 camera was introduced in 1972, it revolutionized
photography. An article by Owen Edward in Smithsonian magazine described the
camera as “a miracle of physics, optics and electronics.” When a photo was
snapped, “a blank square would emerge from the front of the camera and develop
before our eyes.” People were sold on speedy, immediate results.
Oswald Chambers saw a strong connection between our desire for the
immediate and lust: “Lust simply means, ‘I must have this at once’; it may be a
bodily appetite or a spiritual possession. . . . I cannot wait for God’s time,
God is too indifferent; that is the way lust works.”
In Psalm 27, David wrote of his waiting on God during a time of great
trouble when there was no solution in sight. Instead of giving in to despair,
he maintained his confidence that he would “see the goodness of the Lord in the
land of the living” (v.13).
We live in a world that worships the immediate. When it seems there is
no sign of our deepest longings being fulfilled, the psalmist urges us to cling
to the eternal God. “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall
strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!” (v.14).
The answer to our craving for the immediate is to focus on the eternal. (RBC)
