Dear Rose Park,
Yesterday afternoon Sam and I finally made our way to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). The DMV is the three letter acronym that causes our blood pressure to rise and our patience to thin. If you’d like some peace and quiet, the DMV is not the place you want to be. If you’d like your own personal space, the DMV is not the place you want to be. And if you’re in a hurry, the DMV is not the place you want to be.
Actually, we were only there for twenty-minutes. We got brand new licenses and registered to vote in only twenty-minutes. Want to know how we did it? It’s not like we know someone who works there or someone let us cut in line. Did you know that you can make an appointment with the DMV? We made an appointment a few weeks ago, walked in the DMV office on 8th street five-minutes before our designated time, and twenty minutes later we’re walking out. Bing-o, bang-o, bong-o.
Though the DMV is infamous for being painfully slow, this shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. We live in a society of efficiency and timeliness. If we want food, just go through a drive-thru. If we want to purchase only a few items, use the express check-out. If we need it in the morning, select overnight shipping. This is not inherently bad, but it can cause false assumptions about our relationship with God.
If we expect God to send blessings overnight, we might be disappointed in the morning. If we expect God to offer us the fast-track to heaven, we might be disappointed when we hit our first construction zone. If we expect God to display His relationship options like a fast-food menu for our choosing, we might be disappointed when we remember He is God and we are not.
At times God can be extremely prompt, efficient and accommodating, but when we find ourselves expecting God to operate like a fast-food drive-thru then we’ve blurred a line and confused who He is and who we are in relation to Him. God is God and we are not. Some of you know already know this, some of you are learning it right now, but it took an afternoon trip to the DMV to remind of this foundational truth.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Mark