Viral God

Did you hear about the new reality drama being cast?  It features two very competitive sisters – one strikingly beautiful and the other a bit homely.  In the reality series, they are fighting for the affections of the only available potential husband in the area.  

 

Add to that mix an exploitative father-in-law looking for cheap labor with benefits, and stir in some behind the scenes “catfish type” shenanigans and you have an instant hit. 

 

 

The clips from this reality show will probably go viral immediately.  But how long will the series last?  One season, two, maybe five?  It actually lasted 14 seasons, but in one sense it lasts forever. (You can read more it in Genesis 29:15-28)!

 

We live in a video-clip, sound-bite age.   What is all the rage in one moment becomes old news in a 24-hour news cycle.  

 

 

This cultural conditioning seems to excite the desire of humanity everywhere for instant satiation of well - whatever.  We demand quick solutions, instant pain relief, and instant gratification.  I suppose you might say we long for a god of miracles gone viral!

 

  

Electronic posts can go around the world in seconds.  So, what happens to us when God doesn’t act in a like fashion?  When it seems like God isn’t posting fast enough – doesn’t go viral in our lives?

 

 

  

I think we all have a universally-held desire for God
(or for some, a higher power) to act on our behalf
without delay.  We need to know that pain, loss,
suffering, trauma, loneliness and the like won’t last
too long.  We want god-medicines that quickly take
away the pain.


So, how long should we give God to act? In today’s social-media viral-video age, everything happens instantaneously with just a click.


I think today, in a designer-god age, would we want him more like the proverbial tortoise who is painfully slow, or like the hare who speeds lightening fast toward the finish line of our dilemma in record time. We all know the answer to this one!
 

 Given our choice, we would want God to look and race more like the hare.  In today’s world, a tortoise-style God just moves too slow for us, our problems, not to mention the world’s problems. 

Our memories are short and our expectations for service or “need response” is immediate.  Like the viral video of last week, the rage of the moment, is quickly left behind and forgotten.   I think this “new reality” leads us to doubt God, His presence and His ability to reach us personally.  Let’s just say it, God’s promises don’t exactly seem to go viral! 
 

But that’s the point! God keeps His promises to you, but not with a social-media timeline!  If we are looking for God to go viral in a social-media-second, we misunderstand the power and duration of His Word and His promises.  Even the old trickster Jacob figured it out -- and waited it out!  In the message this Sunday, you will see and hear what a guy who lived 3,000 years ago knew even before electricity -- God's promises doesn’t go viral, they go forever!