The Vending Machine

I remember as a child, vending machines were fun to me. I loved putting in a coin, pressing the button with the number corresponding with my selection, and presto! what I desired dropped to the bottom of the machine, waiting for me to push the little door open to retrieve what I ordered (usually an orange soda or a Heath chocolate bar). The fun relationship I enjoyed with the vending machine began to dwindle when unexpected things would happen: it ate my money, the item got caught on its trip down provoking me to much shaking (perhaps a kick or two) of the machine in attempt to loosen my item, or the button I pressed to obtain my desired item didn’t work, sending another selection down instead! Oh! The frustration!

As this memory came to mind, a question came, too: do we ever treat God like a vending machine? We know what we want. We tell God our desire. Having made the selection we wait for our request to come to fruition. We wait and wait. Frustration overtakes trust. Perhaps we want to punch something. Maybe we take our irritations out on whoever is nearby. Maybe God gives us another selection of His choosing other than what we told Him we wanted. We sink into disappointment. Thoughts of “that’s not fair!” churns over and over pushing inner peace right out the door. What can we do to regain peace, joy, and trust again?

When we are disappointed with God, the first thing, the necessary thing that must take place is repentance. It is absolutely vital to our joy that we see ourselves as we are: demanding, trusting our ways are better than His, refusal to wait, inability to control our frustration. When we can truly come before the Lord, and with humility pour out our regret at our behavior and attitude, seeking forgiveness, then sleeping faith awakens. We sense His love and deep understanding of our weakness in wanting our own way above His.

To repent means to turn away. It’s deliberately walking in a new direction that is God-led rather than self-led. When we begin to behave in this manner, our spiritual eyesight clears. We begin to see the blessing of God when He says, “not that way, but this,” or “not now,” or even, “no, not ever.” God always answers our prayers. He always gives us what we need, and guards us against what is not best for us. Our best interests are forever etched into His heart.

We must never forget the absolute truth of Romans 8:28, We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purposes for them (NLT). We find it easier to concentrate on everything works together for our good, but we must also focus on whom will everything work together for good — those who love God. It is a helpful exercise to take a spiritual health check from time to time asking the Holy Spirit to search me and know my heart (Psalm 139:23) then to create in me a pure heart and renew a loyal spirit within me (Psalm 51:10).

It is imperative in knowing full joy and peace in God, that we surrender ourselves to the loving examination of the Holy Spirit, listening as he reveals what is wrong in our lives, then repenting, turning again to His ways. The beauty and calm of trust in Him will grow steadfast and sweet once more. God is not a vending machine. He is Holy. He is perfection.. He is love without measure.