FAST-FOOD ANOINTING

THE CULTURE 

I love chicken, seriously, I am obsessed with chicken (those who know me will tell you about my obsession). The problem is that chicken takes far too long to cook. So when you fancy some, the best option is to drop into your local shop and pick up some already cooked. This only takes a few minutes, so why spend ages preparing and cooking it? We, young people, living in this fastfood culture expect everything to come to us quickly. Who has the patience to wait longer than 20 seconds for a YouTube video to upload? The moment you see that spiral thing going round, you wait a few seconds and before you know it, you are refreshing the page or closing the window. We can’t even be bothered to wait a few seconds for slow loading pages!

BE PATIENT

This sort of fast-food thinking can creep into our spiritual lives too. Many young people give up on God because they say “I asked God to help me with this or that, but nothing happened.” Others say “I prayed a lot, asking the Lord to help me to overcome temptation and fight my addictions, but He didn’t help me and I soon fell again.” Does this sound familiar? So what is the answer? Firstly we shouldn’t think that God’s plans are the same as ours. God sometimes likes to take His time to intervene in our problems. St Paul writes in Romans 5:3, “Suffering produces endurance.” So, sometimes God allows us to go through just a little bit more tempting, before He finally intervenes so that we can learn from our mistakes, and so, our faith in Him will be strengthened. Secondly God doesn’t work like we do. Jesus worked miracles in the twinkling of an eye. He healed people and raised them from the dead in no time, so we know that He can do it! Without God we can do nothing. So be patient and wait for God. “Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not grow faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

WRONG TIME

Imagine that you are a parent with ten kids and they are all young and crazy, maybe like your younger brothers and sisters. Now imagine they all start shouting “I want a fizzy drink” just before their dinner time. How many of you would give them a fizzy drink straight away? Like any good parent you would say, “Wait children, until after your dinner.” It’s not because you don’t love them; you know that if they have a fizzy drink, they won’t eat their dinner and get the right nutrition they need to grow. So you, intentionally, don’t give it to them. This is like us and God. He is our Father, and sometimes, we might be asking for the wrong thing at the wrong time. But God in His infinite wisdom knows what is good for us and will give it to us at the appropriate time.

BE PERSISTENT

You may be thinking, “But I am not asking God for anything that is not good for me; I just want him to take away my pain or the sins that I keep falling into again and again. Why isn’t God helping me?” St. Paul had the same question. He was given a thorn in his flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7) and he asked the Lord about it. Jesus told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) Now I don’t know about you, but if Jesus ever told me that about my sins, I would say, “Wwhhhhaattt, are you crazy bruv.” But St Paul said, “I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) In other words, we have to boast about the power of God when we are weak, by going to Confession, and trying again, seeking advice from our elders and priests. St Paul also says “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18) 

PERSEVERE 

God will help us! He always answers our prayers (Jeremiah 33:3); but sometimes we have to be patient with Him and allow Him time to work in our lives. Don’t think of God as a fast-food restaurant where you order and He delivers. No, God knows you better than you know yourself. Imagine if God gave everyone what they asked for – it would be chaos. There is no shame in falling and trying again. You will be rewarded for your perseverance (Hebrews 10:36).