Out of the many slogans we could apply to today's culture one must surely be "I want it and I want it now". Many of the things we once had to wait days, weeks or even months for, we can now get hold of instantly and without a trek to the shops. Online retailers entice customers with same-day or next delivery; the latest books and albums can be downloaded to our phones in seconds; in less than an hour we can have our entire family holiday planned and booked, all from the comfort of our armchair.
Let's face it, we don't like waiting, we like convenience. But perhaps this is because waiting has been wrongly cast in a negative light – as something that is an irritation, a waste of time, an inconvenience that is going to hold us back in life.
The Reverend Dr Scott Stoner argues in his devotional series for Advent 2015 that in actual fact there are real benefits to be had in waiting. In his view, waiting not only increases our enjoyment of finally getting what we were waiting for, it gives us the chance to make choices that are wiser in the long run. Conversely, failing to wait can have unpleasant consequences and actually diminish our enjoyment of the very thing we were desperate to have.
He explains: "Eating whatever we want, whenever we want, will negatively affect our physical wellness. Reacting immediately when we are flooded with anger will almost always compromise both our emotional and our relational wellness.
"Giving in to the urge to buy more all the time rather than learning to save will compromise our financial wellness. Seeking quick and easy answers from God to our prayers and questions rather than learning to rest and 'trust in the slow work of God' (Teilhard) will diminish our spiritual wellness."
And Christmas, he warns, is the time of year we can be tempted more than ever to indulge: "The emphasis on immediate gratification increases tenfold as we rush full-speed ahead into the Christmas season. We are encouraged to give into our impulses to eat more, do more, drink more, and buy more this time of year."
In other words, we are encouraged to do many of the things that are actually to our detriment, leaving us with a bad hangover when the Christmas season is past.
His advice for living a life of wellness and wholeness, whatever the season?
"Learning to delay gratification," he writes.
If you are struggling with the need for instant gratification, Dr Stoner has some advice: practise patience and make choices that will help you slow down and prepare for the true meaning of Christmas.
In doing so, we will mirror something of our Heavenly Father. After all, patience reflects the character of God and His love - 1 Corinthians 13 tells us that "love is patient, love is kind".
As we anticipate the arrival of Christmas Day, we are reminded of the God who has been patiently waiting for His dream to unfold in our lives and His world; the God who has been patiently at work making all the good things He's planned come to pass; the gift we truly receive of our Heavenly Father coming to us in human form as an eternal promise to receive us as His children again and again and again through the life and death of His Son Jesus Christ. Now that really is something worth waiting for.
