Pastor’s Corner: Rewards to be had with delayed gratification

Rewards to be had with delayed gratification

By DANIEL GRISWOLD
danielgriswold@gmail.com

Published Monday, October 22, 2012

 

Here is an interesting experiment, especially if you have preschool-aged kids, though it will work on anyone who likes marshmallows.Offer the child one marshmallow, but also offer a second one if he or she can wait 15 minutes to eat the first. Do you think your children (or grandchildren) would wait for that second marshmallow? Or would they be like most, who are able to wait up to a minute before gobbling down the first marshmallow, devil may care?

The results will tell you whether your child is able to delay gratification, or simply indulges in the moment.

Now replace the marshmallow with money, and we have the adult version. Does the phrase, “It’s my money, and I need it now” ring a bell? Whole companies profit off of our inability to wait for something that we desire. The most base advertisements are those that stir desire and drive us to immediately purchase what we see.

This can get us in trouble.

Instant gratification: fast food, fast checkout, fast information, fast relationships, 24/7 news, constant entertainment, easy career advancement, quick financial returns and short-term planning.

Delayed gratification: home-cooked meals, getting to know others at long checkouts, processing information, steady and strong relationships, news that we need, planning fun and entertainment with friends, wise career choices and paths, steady financial gains and long-term planning.

Which of these two lists seems more appealing to you? For me, it used to depend on how crazy my life was. Up in New England, I used to walk into a Starbucks and expect quick service. Usually, within five minutes I’d be in and out with a hot, frothy, sugary drink full of caffeine. When I moved to South Carolina, though, and stepped into the same chain, I found folks enjoying each other’s company while in line. Cashiers exchanged pleasant conversations that lasted far beyond three-four seconds. So I had to recalibrate my schedule for a 10- to 15-minute coffee retrieval experience. At first I was annoyed, but then I realized it felt a bit better and I felt a bit more human in the slow down.

Sometimes purposefully slowing down and experiencing the journey becomes a prize in itself.

In the Scriptures, particularly the book of Genesis, Abraham had received a promise from God. Not for coffee, but a promise of a much greater reward. God was going to give him a son who would inherit his wealth but also the blessing that God has placed on Abraham’s life. God had said, “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great…” (Genesis 15:1a). But in his old age, Abe and his wife, Sarai, became impatient. They questioned God and came up with their own plan — a messy plan. It was convenient for them to produce an heir through another woman. A son named Ishmael was born. This also caused great troubles in the household, and rightly so. Two women, one husband, one child and a whole lot of resentment resulted.

Many of us, myself included, sometimes seek out the immediate reward — in little things, like quick tasty coffee, or in big things, like waiting on God’s promises in our lives. We make messes for ourselves and shortchange God, and his faithfulness. Despite Abraham crying out, “I remain childless!” and attemptting to circumvent patience, God had enough blessing in him to bless Ishmael (the first son of Abe’s mess), and in Genesis 21:1-5, a 100-year-old Abe gains a son by his actual wife. God is good.

What challenges are keeping you from the quiet promises of God? What is distracting you from seeing the world in God’s timing? Take a moment to commune with God, much like we do with friends around a warm fire, and sync your desires to a God whose timing is absolutely perfect.

Columnist Daniel Griswold is the director of youth at St. Andrew By-the-Sea United Methodist Church. Follow him at twitter.com/dannonhill. Read his blog at http://www.danielgriswold.wordpress.com.

Read more here: http://www.islandpacket.com/2012/10/22/2252975/rewards-to-be-had-with-delayed.html#storylink=cpy

Being Human: Dealing with Stress

Life can be stressful, but God is always there to get you through

By DANIEL GRISWOLD
danielgriswold@gmail.com

Published Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Growing up, I had an uncle Bobby, and he was pretty much the coolest guy ever. He owned a go-cart, so I immediately loved hanging out with him. He also lifted weights and looked quite buff.One day I noticed that the license plate on his big truck (also very cool) spelled out “S-T-R-E-S-S.” My mom asked him about it.

The reason for Bobby’s unusual choice in vanity plates? Well, because life, quite simply, can be very stressful.

During a study I lead with another Dan I know — called “Lunch with the Dans” at noon Thursdays at Zeppelins in Bluffton — we got to talking about stress recently. I was personally very stressed about whether my wife and I should get a dog. We finally decided to go all in and get a miniature schnauzer, and we found a beautiful 5-month-old named Bruce, but the adoption ended up falling through. Before we knew this, however, my wife had sent me a number of texts worrying about the cost and how we’d take care of Bruce while traveling. Who would check in on him during the day? How would we train him?

I suppose I was more “in” than my wife, but because of her questions I began to stress over her stress. It is funny how these decisions make you re-evaluate everything in your life.

In the Scriptures, the hero of faith, Abraham, had many times of horrible stress. Particularly in Genesis 14:8-15:1, in which the kings of Canaan lay waste to each other in war, and Abraham’s nephew, Lot, is taken as a captive along with all his possessions. Abraham hears about this and has to decide what to do next. Does he run from this place and let Lot find his own fate? Or does he sit tight and wait until the war comes to him? He decides to go to the men of his household (318 of them who were able to fight) and in the night he plans a raid on the armies of the victorious kings.

The life of Abraham is fascinating. In fact, I’d love to see a movie about him — showing imperfections and all. Abraham’s men win the raid and in this amazing victory they bring Lot home. All the spoils of war are brought back to the lands. Abraham is a hero, and yet there is an interesting verse with God’s voice to our hero immediately afterward: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

Without this voice of God, we would not have known that Abraham (here still Abram) was afraid. Only after the battles end and the mighty men have stepped into great dangers — after Abraham has given away all the spoils to the people and has kept nothing for himself — do we see how stressful this really was for him.

At this moment, God comforts him and reminds him that in the midst of all the evils surrounding him, especially this one, which was not of his own making, that God is in the middle of it all.

And God is the great reward.

What are you stressed about? Are you afraid and wondering about the future of your family or your own journey? God doesn’t promise us a perfectly peaceful world, but he has promised he will be our peace in the midst of crisis.

In times of stress, remember Abraham and his family.

You, too, will make it through.

Columnist Daniel Griswold is the director of youth at St. Andrew By-the-Sea United Methodist Church. Follow him at twitter.com/dannonhill. Read his blog at http://www.danielgriswold.wordpress.com.

Read more here: http://www.islandpacket.com/2012/10/10/2238828/life-can-be-stressful-but-god.html#storylink=cpy

The Darkness Wants A Victim, Christ Owned the Darkness

I’ve been processing some of the events of our world, and it is easy to become a bit detached.  Even with the hope we have in Christ, darkness can be a bit overwhelming and we have to process, plan, and move forward.  Our talk in youth group last night was loosely themed around Survival, we talked a bit about Aurora and some of the evils that have happened in the recent past.  We also talked about how many films have emphasized a stronger evil, badder bad guys, and villains based on chaos and destruction.  In films such as The Dark Knight Rises, The Hunger Games, and The Avengers, there are bigger than big enemies.  While there is an overcoming in the film, the darkness still seems to hold on and never quite go away.

We then read of the time Abraham was wondering about God’s promises to him in Genesis 15.  He asked about his future heir, a son which he had not been given. God promised again that his descendants would be like the stars in the sky.  Abraham then reminded God about a land that was to be his own – a homeland – since Abraham (Abram at this moment) had left his homecountry of Ur and in faith moved forward trusting in God.  God again promised that there was a place for him – a promised land.

But there was darkness and warning in the promise as well.  Abraham would live long and die peacefully.  He would have a son and there would be a great nation that came from him.  But another nation would enslave them for hundreds of years.  That would be a time of darkness – evil – suffering.  But God again promised that the nation responsible for that evil would be punished, and Abrahams people would go to the land promised to them.

A deep darkness fell.  Abraham had prepared some sacrifices, animals cut and placed in halves as God had asked.  Then a torch appeared, and moved through the pieces.  A covenant, a promise was being solemnified.  Despite the hardships, despite the evil, despite the struggles that would define them – God would fulfill the promises.  All Abrahams family would need to do would be to remain faithful and trust in the one God.

A light broke the darkness and showed the way through what could look like destruction.  With God, evil would never own history or Abrahams people, or the nations of the earth, who would be “Blessed through Him.”  The ultimate light, Christ, would break the spell of darkness and unleash a light into history that can never be hidden.

The Darkness wants a Victim, Christ owned the Darkness.  

Owned, means to be victorious over.  We can live life fully because we do not have to be afraid of evil.  Even in the midst of the Aurora shootings, friends covered friends and saved each other.  Good people came, the shooter was arrested, and he is being tried.  As the stories went out, while we wondered how one person could do so much evil, and we prayed for the families, we are reminded.  Even while destruction walks among us, it is what we do when everything is falling down, that counts.  We are free to act for good every day – and when the darkness comes, we can guard against the chaos of destruction.  Christ is within us, a light that cannot be hidden.

I saw this video today. It was shared by a friend on Facebook.  As you view it, remember the hope that is within us and that has inspired great acts of good and righteousness – all because of what He did for us.  Natalie Grant’s “Alive”:

God is with you. (Joshua 1:9)