The Easy Button

I love that commercial where individuals find themselves in tough situations and get themselves out by pushing the easy button. Man, I can't count the number of times that I wished for an easy button. When my husband had the nerve to ask for peanut butter cookies at 10:00 at night as though I really want to trudge down to the kitchen and put them in the oven, when I bounced a check yet again and my husband reminded me yet again to tell him when I wrote a check so that he could transfer funds from one account to another, when I was teaching Sophomore Comp. & Lit. my back was turned to the class while writing on the board and a student walked in late wearing a Spiderman mask and matching web attachment but acted as though he didn't know why the entire class erupted in laughter, when my youngest cut up in church and upon her removal screamed at the top of her lungs, because she didn't want the punishment that she knew would ensue, I thought the use of an easy button was highly appropriate at times like those. I liked the idea of an easy button, because it would have totally taken me out of any messy and uncomfortable situation where I would have had to crucify my flesh, where I would have had to think and reevaluate what it was I was doing and why, and where I would have been forced to question if my present set of actions were valid. I would have been avoiding situations that I must face and endure for my own good to bring about necessary changes in my thoughts, attitudes, actions, and speech. But rather than go through this, I could just press a button... a button of escape...a way out of the hot seat. It is tempting, isn't it? Imagine if an easy button had been in existence throughout the Bible. The Bible would surely tell a different story. We wouldn't have to "...look to the hills from which cometh our help..." We would all just look for the easy button. What if Moses and Aaron had an easy button when they went to Egypt to discuss with Pharoah allowing the Israelites to make a three day journey into the desert to worship their God. Moses and Aaron could have just hit the button and deliverance could have immediately come to the Israelites from Egypt? There would have been no plagues, no Passover, no crossing of the Red Sea, nor would there have been an opportunity for the Israelites to see the miraculous works of their God that would lead to their growing trust in him. What if King Nebuchadnezzar had an easy button at his disposal after Daniel interpreted his dream? Although, it would have saved him from living like a wild animal for seven years, it would have prevented him from learning humility and that God is in control of all. What if Abraham and Sarah used their easy button instead of waiting on the Lord to give them Isaac? How would he have learned to trust God that he would be a "father of many nations?" An easy button may seem like an appropriate fix for a bad situation, because it's quick, fast, and in a hurry, but it doesn't allow its user to look to the Lord to learn, to grow, and to be patient in their present situation. It negates the learning process associated with these situations. See, with one press of the button you transcend the obstacle that you're facing and are placed on the other side of it. It's instant deliverance from the situation without the benefit of the wisdom that comes from working through the situation. We would be a bunch of immature, paper thin Christians who never realize our full potential in Christ. We'd never have to reach our full potential, because we wouldn't have to rely on it, because with one press we'd simply find everything fixed. Once again, I'm reminded that there are no short cuts in Christ, for there is much to be learned through the process... the process of putting down the flesh, the process of being patient, the process of gaining wisdom, the process of growing faith, the process of becoming more and more like Christ. Right now, it's easy for me to feel this way about the easy button, because I'm not in the hot seat. Right now my husband isn't asking for cookies, I no longer teach high school English, and my little one now behaves just fine in church. However, I must remember that I should treat my husband to cookies in bed every now and again. He deserves this simple treat, because he does work hard. I must remember that kids will be kids no matter the age or the place. Just because I didn't find the Spiderman costume entertaining, it gave my second hour class quite a laugh and provided them with a little mental break from the lesson (I now find it hilarious everytime I think about it). I am reminded that children must learn to sit quietly in church and this usually doesn't happen over night, so I should have been more patient with my little one. Although I don't intend on finding myself in the hot seat any time soon; however, if ever I am, I'll have to remember my sentiments today about the easy button.