Welcome to Motivational Mondays!
First things first, what is Motivational Mondays?
Just like it sounds, to motivate, to empower, and to encourage you on the first day of a fresh week. I don't know about you but Mondays can be a drag for me, so sometimes words of encouragement and positivity are helpful to start my day off right.
Motivational Monday's topic is: Microwave Ready
What came to your mind when you read the title of this blog post? Instant meals? Tv dinners? Convenience, perhaps?
In this post I want to focus on the quality of having a microwave mentality, and what does it mean to have it and what are some ways that you can prevent yourself from having such a thing.
Let me explain!
Living in a Microwave Society
As time and technology continue to evolve, the need for instant gratification is becoming more and more popular. We have become so accustomed to getting what we want right then and there that waiting long periods of time for things to be done can be very irritating. We as people have become so impatient over everything and oftentimes if things are not moving at the pace we think they should we tend to give up. God does not specialize in Microwave Ready Blessings, God takes his time to determine which blessing is for us and if we are ready for the blessing. God cannot be rushed, it is like we talked about in Hindsight Being 20/20, God does and reveals things in His own perfect timing.
How is your patience level?
Can you wait, peaceful?
Hot and Cold Results
Having instant gratification may seem like a great thing but in the end, we end up sacrificing way more than we think. The quality is being overshadowed by the element of speed. Quantity and having things done quickly is not always a good thing. For example, think about some of these big companies that manufacture large quantities of items. They sacrifice their quality for speed. The items are defective, chipped, torn, poorly made, and so on. Now let's think about this in the food sense. Imagine popping your spaghetti in the microwave to warm up for dinner. You place it in there for 5 minutes and take it out expecting it to be hot and as yummy tasting as it was when you first cooked it but it's not. Instead, you have a meal that is hot and steamy on the outside and cold in the center. The quality of the spaghetti was compromised.
Let’s first break down what a microwave mentality is and what it looks like.
When I think of someone having a microwave mentality I imagine they are impatient, easily irritated, lack of endurance, and chafing of spirit. This mentality is purely reliant on speed and instant gratification.
Impatient/Easily Irritated
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Galatians 5:22
Someone who is impatient lacks the will or drive to wait. This person has the tendency to move quickly and be restless in nature. If you are impatient it is the opposite of The Fruits of the Spirit. Having patience is required when living a life of Christ. We are advised many times in The Manual (The Bible) to wait on the Lord and to have patience in all things. With a microwave mentality, the person is unable to do either of those things. If you are an impatient person it means that you may also be easily irritated especially if things start taking longer than they should, or if things do not go as planned. Being so easily irritated can cause you to fall into sin.
Lack of Endurance
For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
Hebrews 10:36
Endurance is the ability or power of enduring an unpleasant or difficult process or situation without giving way. If you are lacking endurance then it means that you have not built up the muscle or the stamina needed to withstand the situation or in this case the lengthy process. For example, let’s stick with our theme about food, someone who lacks endurance would constantly order takeout instead of taking the time to cook food at home. When eating, takeout the person is sacrificing their nutrition, their resources, and the quality of the food. Let’s face it, a lot of the food that is available for takeout is not the healthiest and does not always taste that great because the people making it are more focused rushing to get orders out rather than the taste. Someone having endurance would mean that they would take the time to gather the ingredients, follow the recipe, cook the meal, and enjoy the fruits of their labor, even though it meant that it may take an hour or two to prepare. The person who has endurance puts more value in quality over speed.
May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy,
Colossians 1:11
When God is looking down watching us he is less concerned with how much we do something but rather the quality. His concern is that we are sincerely placing our all into what we are doing and giving our best effort. God is not impressed by the speed, in fact, he is more impressed when you can show your willingness to wait and your willingness to endure discomfort until the situation is finished. Endurance is important to God. It mentions several times within the bible that we should have the endurance to overcome what life can throw at us.
Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.
Proverbs 19:2
How To OverCome a Microwave Mentality
Plan Ahead
Planning ahead will limit the want for something convenient. Half of the battle most of the time is getting prepared. Once you have a plan in place it will be easier to follow.
Set Realistic Goals
My TIP for you is to make sure your plans are S.M.A.R.T. Smart goals are more realistic and you will be more likely to stick to them because they are more achievable.
Don’t look down on small beginnings. Many people want to change everything all at once and that is not realistic for everyone. Start small and make the change gradually over time.
When the Change is Gradual your Evolution is Permanent.
Make An Effort
Like the bible says, don't be despised of small beginnings. This is just like we talked about in the Action to Start Somewhere And Get To Work. Just start SOMETHING and build your consistency, endurance, and patience.
Put the effort in and you will be pleased.
Faith without works is dead, so get to it!
Having faith is not something that can be Microwaved. For example, you can’t put a raw turkey in an oven that is set on preheat. You would have to wait for the oven to reach the proper temperature first before putting anything in it. In this analogy, faith is the same way. Faith is a gradual process just like the oven preheating. You have to let it build up to its potential and then watch it work before you can reap the benefits, in this case, a yummy golden-brown turkey. It requires endurance, trust in God, hope, assurance in God, and patience. Faith is Active and requires oven-ready responsibilities.
Microwaving faith just won't do!
Final thoughts:
If you can’t break through your microwave mentality then you will not be equipped for an oven-ready recipe. Stay tuned for the next blog post!
**I hope everyone has a safe and blessed week and I will see you all on Saturday for our Weekly Topic Saturdays**
~Just Breathe...A Golden Dream~
Amen.