Today's Scripture Reading (May 18, 2023): Habakkuk 2
I received a complaint the
other day; no, this one was not about me. I was just the sounding board for
someone else's frustration. The target of the tirade was McDonald's. I have a
few friends who are not fans of the fast-food giant, and this tirade came from
someone who had ordered their food at the drive-through of a local store. He
had made their order. There were no special orders, just food that could come
off the typical assembly line as they were making the food. He paid for their
meal at the first window and then waited for the food at the second window, as
is the usual process for fast food. Finally, he was sent to the waiting area to
park until the order was ready. And in the waiting area, he watched as car
after car drove away with their meals while he waited. And then he said, "It
must have been a half-hour before I finally got my meal." (I questioned
him on the time spent in the waiting area later, and he admitted it was more
like five minutes. Which made more sense to me.) But his anger was genuine.
Fast food is supposed to be faster than that.
I would argue that we have
left the fast-food era and exchanged it for the immediate-food age. And it is
not just food. Everything we expect should be given to us immediately. We don't
want to wait and don't think we should have to wait for anything we want. The
idea of lay-away, the practice of paying in installments for something we will
take home once the payments are in, is a
foreign concept to many of us.
I think that there is a case
to be made that Habakkuk believes that he is speaking of the first advent of
the Messiah, but then again he didn't have any idea that there would have been
a first and a second coming. Experts agree that Habakkuk is speaking about the
Second Coming of Christ in this passage. And he says that the revelation speaks
of the end and will not prove false. But he also recognizes that we must wait
for the appointed time for whatever advent we are discussing.
In our current society, we
don't like that. We want everything now. And that immediate-food attitude has even
been brought into our concept of end times. Many people I am in contact with
expect his return immediately, maybe even before I get out of the Mcdonald's
drive-through. They stress that we are in the end times. And I agree, but at
the same time, we are not the ones who will appoint the time; that is in the
hands of our God. We are still waiting for the specified time. Habakkuk reminds
us that the appointed time will come, and the predictions of the end will not
prove false. Even though it seems to linger, we must be patent and wait for it.
Peter echoes the same sentiment in his letter in the New Testament. "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as
some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting
anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:8).
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading:
Habakkuk 3
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